Bang Movie Review

The powerlessness in the life of The Girl (eloquently played by Darling Narita) is eating her up. She goes on an acting audition and the scurvy producer hits on her, then Officer Rattler (Michael Newland) threatens to bust her on some trumped-up charge unless she gives him a blow job. She manages to grab his gun, forces him to strip, and handcuffs him to a tree. Once she replaces her clothes with the outfit of a uniformed authority figure, she is treated with enormous respect by just about everyone: waitresses, cops, gang members, drug dealers…. But with Power comes The Truth and it doesn't set her free—it breaks her heart. In the film's most disarming sequence, she gets a lift with Juan and Jesus (Art Cruz and Luis Guizar), two sweet young gang members. She splits some beer and shares a joint with them and assumptions on both sides break down during their brief time together. Darling Narita is incredibly moving as the down-on-her-luck L.A. girl who goes through the full range of emotional highs and lows during one action-packed day. Despite the catchy title, Bang is much, much more than you might expect it to be, and on a $20,000 budget, besides. Does writer/director Ash walk on water? AKA: The Big Bang Theory.

1995 98m/C Darling Narita, Peter Greene, Michael Newland, David Allen Graff, Eric Schrody, Michael Arturo, James Sharpe, Luis Guizar, Art Cruz, Stanley Herman; D: Ash; W: Ash; C: Dave Gasperik. Nominations: Independent Spirit Awards ‘98: Debut Performance (Narita). VHS