User reviews

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.

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.

Bleak look at the life of the less-privileged in contemporary Los Angeles. Darling Narita is utterly believable as the unemployed, homeless actress who gets to be a "cop" for a day, and the dialogue, situations and general flow of the film have a definite ring of authenticity (you will never say to yourself "no, this couldn't happen"). The director's documentary-like technique draws you into the film; on the other hand, it doesn't give you too many insights into the characters. Ultimately, the film comes to a dead end - like its heroine, it has nowhere to go. (**1/2)

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.

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.

Ever seen a movie with an unbelievable opening plot device, yet the grim urban reality that it is set in allows you to buy it, in some strange way? Well, I think that describes 'Bang' pretty well. The idea of an actress assuming the role of a cop for a day is outlandish (and that stolen uniform fits pretty nicely). But it works if you let it. Don't expect reality in the plot, but you'll find it in the details of this one. A movie that makes you think about the assumption of identity, about who has power in society, and how that shifts depending on the circumstances.

Not sure why this movie seems to have gotten such rave reviews.

While watching "Bang" one night on TV, I found myself bored by the nonsensical, random plot which was occurring on screen. The entire movie seems to be nothing more than an exercise in meaningless, artsy-fartsy self-indulgence on the part of the filmmaker. The fact that the director/writer goes by a one name moniker only reinforces this sense of pretentiousness.

Those interested in indie flicks would be better off looking for something better written and dare I say, more entertaining than this complete waste of time.

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.

Bang, a film by Ash. It's a tough one to find, but it's a scrappy little treasure trove of a flick. It's a guerrilla film in the sense that the filmmakers had no permits, schedule, a puny budget and a barebones script which is mostly hijacked by wicked improv thanks to the cast. This seat of the pants storytelling technique doesn't exactly ensure wide distribution or any efforts in marketing, but they managed to pull off one of the most galvanizing, unpredictable and emotional films of the 1990's, as far as I'm concerned. On a bright sunny morning in Beverly Hills, a young Asian American actress (Darling Narita in an arresting, pulverizing debut performance) heads to a make it or break audition with a hotshot Hollywood producer (David Alan Graf), who turns out to be an outright scumbag rapist, leaving her distraught and afraid. Her only friend seems to be Adam (Peter Greene), a rambunctious and slightly unstable homeless man who valiantly defends her by trashing every garbage can on the block, heralding the arrival of a motorcycle cop (Michael Newland) who chases our heroine down, and attempts to persuade her into sucking him off as an exit to vandalism charges. Her fuse reaches its end and all of a sudden she overpowers him, takes his gun and clothes and assumes the much feared mantle of the LAPD. From there on in its a surreal odyssey of crime, mistaken identity, personal awakening and a riveting exploration of what makes a person powerful, what it takes for a woman to gain respect in a cutthroat city where misogyny runs rampant and unchecked, and ultimately how a downtrodden individual can regain their footing through the most traumatizing of encounters. It's like baptism by fire, only the fire comes from the end of the police issue handgun she never wanted, and the baptism from the death it deals out in the extreme circumstances she finds herself in because of what the uniform, the symbol, represents. Narita is a startling wonder, attacking each scene with renewed intuition and never missing a beat. Greene is a rare revelation; he almost always plays nasty psychos, and here is given a shot at the eccentric loony toons style character that would usually be given to to Jim Carrey or Robin Williams. He shows what a talent he is as everyone's favourite lovable bum, displaying a gift for improv and off the cuff performance. Narita and him have an unforced friendship that blossoms early, ebbing and flowing as both find a modicum of solace within each other's company that is periodically broken and reunited. Watch for Lucy Liu as a reprehensible young hooker as well. Ebert sung this ones praises when it came out.. No one heard. I imagine because of its extremely indie nature. It's worth seeking out for the important message it brands upon the viewer, it's frank and very candid approach, and it's rabbit hole glance at one woman in trouble, navigating a zone out of depth in an unchosen guise. One of the best films of the 90's.

Stars Darling Narita and Peter Greene. Narita is an actress down on her luck who masquerades as a policewoman for a day. Her acting is pretty good, but she miraculously is not killed by any of the criminals with whom she comes into conflict. Credibility is strained. Nevertheless, the movie accurately shows with wry humor how it can happen that people treat us according to who they think we are. In cast credits, Lucy Liu is mis-identified as Lucy Lui. An inauspicious beginning for a actress who appears to be poised for stardom.

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!

Bang is a good film. Ash manipulates the story well, and the camera squeezes every bit of it in the frame. Great paradoxes between the real and the absurd. Everything is presented well. Good acting, great story, great drama, great cinematography. Check it out. It is a fresh film, one that stands out from the normal action/ drama that is out there.

Well, you can´t say really it´s a B-Movie, more a good solid independent flick. Mainly the scenes are from the streets of L.A, the good and the bad parts. The main actor is this Asian-heritaged woman, who got the clothes from a police-officer and following that she cruised around with his bike, diving so to speak into L.A´s street life, with its gang-shooting, relationships, homelessness etc. A bit sad but also it got humour in it. Quite recommended!

A down-and-out actress from L.A. gets evicted and arrested, then gets revenge on all those who wronged her. This film takes an improbable series of events and creates a bizarre yet plausible storyline.

It reminds me of John Schlesigner's "Billy Liar" - except that the protagonist in Bang! actually gets to play out her fantasies.

One of my all time favorites. It's a movie about crooked cops, individual rights, L.A., latinos, asians, unfortunate circumstance, women's rights, etc. There's much to say but I don't want to give it away and I can't submit a review unless it's at least ten lines long so stop reading this already and go watch Bang!