“You handcuffed him to a tree? In there? I live there!”

Justin’s rating: Reminds me of the day I picked up a mop and became a fake janitor. Cleaned up my act, let me tell you.

Justin’s review: For today’s review, I’m going to dip deep, deep into the well of 90s indie movies to examine a little crime thriller called Bang. This movie’s claim to fame involves two small connections: It’s directed by Ash Baron-Cohen, who’s Sacha’s cousin, and a young Lucy Liu has a bit part in it. But outside of that, is there anything of interest here?

Filmed in the cinéma vérité style, Bang follows around a nameless Asian woman (Darling Narita) who’s having a strange and somewhat awful day. First she’s evicted from her apartment, then she blows an audition in L.A., and then a corrupt cop tries to take advantage of her. That last one is a bridge too far, and the girl snaps, grabs the cop’s gun, handcuffs him to a tree, and steals his uniform and bike.

Viola! Instant cop!

Why not live the rest of the day in a cop’s motorcycle boots? She’s probably not thinking straight here, but this is the path she chooses. It’s destined to end badly, yes, but the ride might be pretty interesting — and it’s the acting role of a lifetime.

It’s also a clever reversal from earlier in the movie where men have all of the power over her. The uniform, gun, helmet, and bike confer instant authority that’s intoxicating. It’s kind of a female version of Falling Down — a person pushed past their breaking point who then embarks on an odyssey of unexpected encounters with an unhinged new perspective.

The woman discovers that it’s not all sunshine nor all pitfalls as a cop. She gets a free breakfast on the house, has to fake a meal with real cops, participates in an arrest, hands out money to the homeless, talks down a jumper, gets stranded without gas, makes a couple Latino friends, experiences a drive-by shooting, and winds down at a beach.

Meanwhile, a quirky transient (Peter Greene, Pulp Fiction) that she befriended has a fun afternoon tormenting the handcuffed real cop and giving us a few moments of humor.

Bang is hampered — or maybe challenged? — by a low budget (about $20,000), a shaky cam, and some uneven improv acting — not to mention that infection of indie directors who believe they’re delivering incredible art instead of a messy early project with hints of potential. Even so, I found myself keenly interested in where this character would go and what she’d do before all of this came crashing down.

Upon reflection, I think my continued interest was that unlike most slick mainstream movies, I really couldn’t predict what was going to happen next. It’s a movie with a lot of little surprises and a huge question mark hanging over the future. Heck, there’s a question mark hanging over the woman, who is taciturn and mostly takes out a cigarette whenever she encounters another one of L.A.’s residents.

See, it’s not even that much about her — she’s a portal through which we get to meet real people in their little slices of life that day. Some of it’s upbeat, some of it’s depressing, and some of it is just plain weird. But it feels more authentic for it.

I think I liked it. Yeah, I did.

Intermission!

• Reportedly, the director had no permits or permission to shoot anywhere — the cast and crew just did it on the fly
• Really thought that was a dead girl in the bathtub there
• This is one unnerving homeless man
• Remember Polaroids, kids?
• I think he killed that mailbox
• It’s hard to believe that his uniform would fit her that well
• “He resisted my citizen’s arrest.”
• A crash course in driving a police motorcycle
• I love that her bike tips over, I would totally do that
• Fake cop, peeing in nature while looking at the Hollywood sign
• “You got a real bad case of verbal diarrhea, you know that.”
• “I’ve got all day. My 5:30’s been cancelled.”
• Weed could’ve changed history
• “You gotta remember, the cops are the smallest gang in L.A.”