What’s a girl to do when, some four months behind on her rent, she finds herself literally being drug from her apartment by her landlord and tossed into the streets, minus her confiscated belongings? Well in this case, “The Girl,” well played by Darling Narita, does about all she can do, which is to say she strives to carry on with business as usual. In her case, that means acting — which probably explains her financial woes — but she’s convinced that an audition that afternoon for a juicy indie film role will solve all her problems.
When that audition turns into a casting couch cliché (in a tedious and painfully predictable scene), she flees the premises, only to run into Adam (Peter Greene), a wild-eyed alcoholic homeless man to whom she’d lent a smoke earlier in the day. Adam goes berserk when he learns what happened to her, tossing garbage cans, strewing trash everywhere and attracting the attention of Officer Rattler (Michael Newland). Then he flees, leaving our heroine busted by default. When Rattler attempts to coerce the unlucky suspect into providing certain favors in exchange for him letting her go, she grabs his gun, orders him to strip, handcuffs him to a tree and begins a real life performance impersonating the crooked cop.
What follows is a daylong inner city road movie of sorts, as we witness a series of urban experiences as seen through the eyes of the pseudo-cop. But as my Mom used to always say, it’s only fun until someone gets hurt, which eventually, inevitably happens. Before she can say, “impersonating a police officer,” the wannabe actress finds herself haunted by taking her role a little too seriously.
“Bang” has a certain unmistakably gritty vibe going for it, thanks primarily to Narita’s surprisingly winsome denial and desperation. (Greene, on the other hand, is plainly trying too hard to imbue his Adam with some “edge.”) Yet, the film, directed by the singularly (and annoyingly) monikered Ash, is ultimately as pointless as the violence in its heroine’s world. In spite of what she’s seen and done in her impromptu shift as a law officer, nothing really changes either for her or her puppy dog-like derelict suitor. Unfortunately, in spite of its heroine’s baptism by fire, “Bang” merely goes out with a whimper.
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