BAD GIRLS
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1994 James Berardinelli
Rating (0 to 10): 2.5
Date Released: 4/22/94 Running Length: 1:37 Rated: R (Violence, language, mature themes, bad acting)
Starring: Madeleine Stowe, Mary Stuart Masterson, Drew Barrymore, Andie MacDowell Director: Jonathan Kaplan Producers: Albert S. Ruddy, Andre E. Morgan, and Charles Finch Screenplay: Ken Friedman and Yolande Finch Music: Jerry Goldsmith Released by Twentieth-Century Fox
You know you have arrived by the scenery--the dusty trails and horse- drawn carriages, the old-time saloons with their lively whores, and the picturesque backdrops that bring to mind Colorado as it once was. Arrived where? you ask. Why, directly in the midst of a genre picture, where the likes of John Wayne, Mario Van Peebles, and Clint Eastwood have ventured. THE BALLAD OF LITTLE JO this isn't, however.
Echo City, Colorado, is exactly what you'd expect from an Old West cliche town. It has the dirt-packed streets and the ramshackle buildings, although there aren't too many tumbleweeds to be seen. Our four heroines--Cody (Madeleine Stowe), Anita (Mary Stuart Masterson), Lilly (Drew Barrymore), and Eileen (Andie MacDowell)--start off their adventures here, as the resident prostitutes in Echo's only tavern. The local religious fanatics are out to get the whores and Cody plays right into their hands by shooting a customer who was becoming too demanding of her good buddy Anita.
It's lynching time, but--never fear!--in an amazingly dumb rescue sequence, Cody's three friends free her from the hangman's noose. Then they're off across the plains, heading for Agua Dulce, Texas, where Cody has some twelve-thousand dollars stowed away in a bank account. Along the way, there are a few meaningless and dull action sequences, including a scene where the wagon gets away from the girls and has to be corralled by Lilly. Can someone possibly explain how the editor missed snipping this?
Actually, the main characters really aren't "bad girls." They're just misunderstood, but I suppose the title MISUNDERSTOOD GIRLS lacks panache. All four basically have hearts of gold, and in case we miss this point when it is first none-too-subtly pointed out, we are repeatedly bludgeoned by this simple truth.
The Old West was a gritty place, and this is cleverly proven by having the four women's faces smudged with cosmetic dirt during certain strategic scenes. Odd that their hair remained clean and manageable, but you have to draw the line somewhere. I mean, how much realism can you expect? This isn't UNFORGIVEN, after all.
Along the way, we meet a number of male characters, none of whom are any more interesting than the females. There's Joshua McCoy (Dermot Mulroney), who develops a crush on Cody after rescuing her, but before rescuing Lilly and then needing to be rescued himself. There's Kid Jarrett (James Russo), who proves to be the West's most sadistic - and inept--outlaw. Also along for the ride is James Legros' William Tucker (an uninteresting love interest for the equally uninteresting Andie MacDowell), and Robert Logia's Frank Jarrett, who provides a recognizable name and little else.
How about the acting in BAD GIRLS? Well, the title pretty much says it all. Some of the people in this movie have done good work before. You'd never know it by watching this. And the dialogue ... ouch! A few examples: "We sold our bodies. Why can't we sell some wood?" [A deeply philosophical question comparing running a mill to being a prostitute.] "If your laws don't include me, well then, they don't apply to me either." [Anita trying to get out of paying a lawyer whose opinion she doesn't like--she didn't have a gun at this point, so she couldn't just shoot him.] "All I ever got was a couple of fancy dresses and a broken heart." [Better, I suppose, than a couple of fancy dresses and a broken neck.]
In defense of this film, I have the following to say:
Actually, there are a few funny moments. I think I laughed more than during MAJOR LEAGUE 2 (which isn't saying much). Unfortunately, BAD GIRLS isn't supposed to be a comedy, and most of the most amusing sequences are intended to be serious.
Never trust a Western where the scenery continually upstages the actors. At least director Jonathan Kaplan had the good sense to employ a competent cinematographer. Jerry Goldsmith's score, on the other hand, is a bit ... shall we say ... melodramatic.
All-in-all, BAD GIRLS would have been much better if the zealots had hung Cody at the outset, then gunned down her three friends as they tried to rescue her. That way, this movie would have been only 8 minutes long. Come to think of it, though, even at that length, it would have seemed padded.
- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)
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