Bang

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.

Ash definitely has talent.. a clever script.. you must watch to the end to fully appreciate his talent..of course there were limitations being a low budget movie.. i didn't particularly like the filming style, the hand held camera going back and forth to the different characters.. but the story, a struggling actress, kicked out of her apartment and thrown into a 'real' acting part by bad circumstances, is very interesting and thought provoking and scary. The lead actress is particularly good. like i said before.. don't give up.. see it all the way through.

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!

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.