Bang

This 1995 film by Ash (Ashley Baron-Cohen related to the comedic actor, Sacha Baron-Cohen) was pioneering in light of today's climate of police accountability. This filmic production almost unseen by the mainstream media since it before social media hyping and as an indie film.

The film was bold, although it used art house tropes it definitely flips the perspective on LA cops. It indirectly looks at LA's gender, race and gang divisions. The pace and humor of story was before full-feature films by his contemporary peer, Guy Ricthie and later films like 2006's "Crank".

It's film that runs on speed and the power of this film relies on having non stars that make characters credible. It earned a 1998 Independent Spirit Award for the main debut actor: Darling Narita but also the film has an early appeareance by then unknown, Lucy Liu! Peter Greene is also a small but supporting character.

It should be said that this came before the critically acclaimed "Traffic". This film which may be hard to find, it a hidden gem if you are into indie styled stories of urban culture!

Highly recommended!

The only memorable things about "Bang" is that it features a female Asian protagonist in a non-stereotypical role and its use of cinema verite techniques. That said, the movie meanders about without any sort of coherent plot or message. At times, I felt as if the filmmaker was making the story up as he was filming it.

Essentially "Bang" is all flash and no substance.

I loved this film. Darling Narita's performance convinced me that what I was seeing was possible, however improbable. She carries the film, but there are several other fine performances here.

An added bonus: Lucy Liu, currently appearing in TV's Ally McBeal, in a small but important role as a strung out hooker.

Note: I rented this film from BlockBuster under the title "Bang" with a release date of 1997.

A woman finds herself in a police uniform after cuffing him to a tree and spends the day as he might have. She experiences an assortment of situations and emotions.

Truly an "if I were in his shoes" approach works quite well. The film has a lower budget look but features some good acting although I do give the film a low-to-moderate "yeah, right" factor in a few scenes.

An entertaining if not so plausible tale, of a young lady who resorts to impersonating a police officer (to escape being sexually assaulted by a L.A motorbike cop. if you do not think too much of the indecent proposition (that probably happens quite often), the rest of the fantastic plot falls nicely into place. A side part to the chief actress, is the very wonderful Peter Greene and here seen as a derelict, tramp like character. He's one of those few actors like Keitel, or Nick Cage, where a director can let him sort of free-wheel through a performance:; delivering such unique lines and facial expressions. Here lifting the movie with his charged persona.