''Bad Girls'' is a 1994 American
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
film directed by
Jonathan Kaplan
Jonathan Kaplan (born November 25, 1947) is an American film producer and director. His film ''The Accused'' (1988) earned actress Jodie Foster an Oscar for Best Actress and was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 39th Berlin International ...
, and written by Ken Friedman and
Yolande Turner
Yolande Turner, also known as Yolande Finch (12 December 1935 – 6 November 2003), was a British actress and screenwriter.
Born in South Africa as Yolande Eileen Turnbull, she was the second wife of actor Peter Finch, by whom she had two child ...
. It stars
Madeleine Stowe
Madeleine Marie Stowe Mora (born August 18, 1958) is an American actress. She appeared mostly on television before her role in the 1987 crime-comedy film ''Stakeout''. She went on to star in the films ''Revenge'' (1990), ''Unlawful Entry'' (199 ...
,
Mary Stuart Masterson
Mary Stuart Masterson (born June 28, 1966) is an American actress and director. She has starred in the films ''At Close Range'' (1986), '' Some Kind of Wonderful'' (1987), '' Chances Are'' (1989), ''Fried Green Tomatoes'' (1991) and ''Benny & Jo ...
,
Andie MacDowell
Rosalie Anderson MacDowell (born April 21, 1958) is an American actress and former fashion model. MacDowell's known for her starring film roles in romantic comedies and dramas. MacDowell has modeled for Calvin Klein and has been a spokeswoman ...
and
Drew Barrymore
Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, director, producer, talk show host and author. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a ...
. Kaplan previously directed two of the film's stars: Masterson in ''
Immediate Family
The immediate family is a defined group of relations, used in rules or laws to determine which members of a person's family are affected by those rules. It normally includes a person's parents, siblings, spouse, and children. It can contain othe ...
'' (1989) and Stowe in ''
Unlawful Entry
Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels, and trespass to land.
Trespass to the person historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery, wounding ...
'' (1992).
The film follows four former
prostitutes
Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...
on the run following a
justifiable homicide
The concept of justifiable homicide in criminal law is a defense to culpable homicide (criminal or negligent homicide). Generally, there is a burden of production of exculpatory evidence in the legal defense of justification. In most countri ...
and
prison escape
A prison escape (referred as a bust out, breakout, jailbreak, or prison break) is the act of an inmate leaving prison through unofficial or illegal ways. Normally, when this occurs, an effort is made on the part of authorities to recapture the ...
, who later encounter difficulties involving
bank robbery
Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank branch or teller, as opposed to other bank- ...
and
Pinkerton
Pinkerton may refer to:
Places
* Pinkerton, Ontario, named after surveyor and early settler Matthew Pinkerton
* Pinkerton's Landing Bridge, railroad bridge in Pennsylvania
People
* Allan Pinkerton (18191884), Scottish detective and spy
* Bill ...
detectives.
Plot
Cody, Anita, Eileen and Lily work together in a brothel. When Anita is abused by a customer, Cody kills the man after he opens fire on her.
Narrowly escaping from a lynch mob, they are pursued by Pinkerton detectives hired by the widow of the man Cody shot. A man they meet on the road, McCoy, warns them of the pursuit.
They discuss riding to Oregon and starting a new life by taking up a claim to land inherited by Anita when her husband died of cholera. Cody offers to fund their new start from savings she has accumulated over the years. They go to the bank where Cody's savings are held. As she tries to close her account and make a withdrawal, the Pinkerton detectives catch up with her and try to arrest her. Leaving the bank manager's office, they find themselves in the middle of a bank robbery being staged by Kid Jarrett, a former lover of Cody's. He helps her escape from arrest but takes her money and tells her to find him.
During the escape, Eileen is arrested. Cody decides to go after the money and Kid Jarrett, telling Anita and Lily to wait in hiding. Anita and Lily return to town to break Eileen out of jail.
Cody's meeting with Kid Jarrett and Frank Jarrett does not go well. Kid Jarrett has not forgiven her for running out on him. He flogs her. Later, she is found unconscious by McCoy, who brings her to a healer in town and puts the Pinkerton detectives off her trail.
McCoy, Cody and the other three women meet up on the ranch of a farmer who'd been guarding Eileen's cell (and whom they'd tricked into releasing her). Cody plans revenge on Kid Jarrett. They foil a train robbery and steal his loot, at the cost of Lily being abducted. In turn, they abduct Frank Jarrett, Kid's father.
Regrouping again on the ranch, Anita leaves the others, frustrated with their revenge-motivated misadventures. She goes to a lawyer in town and finds out that the claim to land is only valid in the hands of her husband - as a woman, she cannot claim the land in Oregon.
Frank Jarrett antagonizes his captors until McCoy shoots him. Cody sends McCoy away. Meanwhile, Lily is being raped by her captors. McCoy stages a one-man rescue attempt and is captured, but Lily escapes.
Reunited, Cody, Anita and Eileen go to rescue Lily and meet her on the road. When she tells them that McCoy has been captured, they continue towards Kid Jarrett's hide out, and offer to trade the stolen loot for McCoy, who has been flogged and tortured. Kid agrees, then shoots McCoy as soon as the loot is handed over. He gives Cody the money he stole from her.
While retreating, one of Lily's would-be rapists taunts her, triggering a shootout that results in the deaths of Kid's entire gang.
After the shootout, Eileen marries the rancher, while Lily, Cody and Anita head west to start a new life, mentioning the
Klondike Gold Rush of 1896. On the trail they overtake the Pinkerton detectives, who do not see them.
Cast
Production
The original director was
Tamra Davis
Tamra Davis (born January 22, 1962) is an American film, television and music video director.
Early life
Davis was born the second out of four children in Studio City, California. She was exposed to the media industry at an early age by her gran ...
.
Three weeks into filming in
Sonora, California
Sonora is the county seat of Tuolumne County, California. Founded during the California Gold Rush by Mexican miners from Sonora (after which the city is named), the city population was 5,226 during the 2020 Census, an increase of 221 from the ...
, Davis was fired. The studio hired a new producer (
Lynda Obst
Lynda Rosen Obst (born April 14, 1950)[Lynda Obst]
Jonathan Kaplan
Jonathan Kaplan (born November 25, 1947) is an American film producer and director. His film ''The Accused'' (1988) earned actress Jodie Foster an Oscar for Best Actress and was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 39th Berlin International ...
), cinematographer (Ralf Bode) and screenwriter (
Ken Friedman
Ken Friedman (born September 19, 1949 in New London, Connecticut) is a design researcher. He was a member of Fluxus, an international laboratory for experimental art, architecture, design, and music. Friedman joined Fluxus in 1966 as the youngest m ...
). The budget reportedly went up from $16.5 million to $20 million. After a month's hiatus, in which the script was rewritten to make it more action orientated, filming resumed.
Lynda Obst later said, "Jonathan is like a woman. His ''
Heart Like a Wheel
''Heart Like a Wheel'' is the fifth solo studio album by Linda Ronstadt, released in November 1974. It was Ronstadt's last album to be released by Capitol Records. At the time of its recording, Ronstadt had already moved to Asylum Records and rel ...
'' was the first feminist movie that knocked me out. He's more of a feminist than I am. I kept saying, 'Women do not want to ride into the sunset without men. We like men.'"
"I had actually liked the first script very much and would never have agreed to do it otherwise," said Stowe. "But I guess it wasn't translating."
Stowe later called it "a terrible, terrible movie... There's really nothing I can say about the experience that is positive, except that it brought me to Texas."
The railroad scenes were filmed on the
Sierra Railroad
The Sierra Railroad Corporation is a privately owned common carrier. Its Sierra Northern Railway freight division handles all freight operations for all branches owned by the Sierra Railroad. The company's Mendocino Railway group operates the ...
in
Tuolumne County, California
Tuolumne County (), officially the County of Tuolumne, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 55,620. The county seat and only incorporated city is Sonora.
Tuolumne County comprises the ...
.
Soundtrack
The film was written by
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer and conductor known for his work in film and television scoring. He composed scores for five films in the ''Star Trek'' franchise and three in the Rambo (franchise) ...
, who composed the music as a cross between the style of his 1960s westerns and a contemporary sound. The soundtrack has been released twice; through
20th Century Fox Film Scores on 10 May 1994 and an extended, limited edition through La-La Land Records and
Fox Music
Fox Music was the music division label of 20th Century Fox. It encompassed music publishing and licensing businesses, dealing primarily with television and film soundtracks. It was located in Century City, California.
During CEO Robert Kraft's ...
on 28 June 2011.
Track list for the La-La Land edition (tracks in italics also on the Fox release, asterisked tracks include previously unreleased material):
# ''The John (2:19)''
# ''The Hanging (2:06)''
# Which Way? (:42)
# ''The Snake (1:20)''
# The Saw Mill (1:56)
# Keep Moving (:57)
# ''Bank Job* (5:16)''
# The Gang/The Posse (:56)
# Return to the Fold (4:06)
# Don't Hurt Me (1:45)
# ''Jail Break (3:27)''
# ''No Money (2:09)''
# The Guests (:36)
# Welcome to My Home (1:20)
# The Pleasure of Your Company (:48)
# ''Ambush (5:45)''
# What's Your Name? (1:18)
# The Claim (:25)
# Together (:39)
# ''I Shot Him* (2:46)''
# Put It On (1:32)
# River Crossing (:34)
# Rescued (3:03)
# ''Josh’s Death (3:41)''
# ''No Bullets (3:53)''
# ''My Land/End Credits (6:53)''
Reception
''Bad Girls'' received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics upon its release and currently holds a 13% "Rotten" rating on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
based on 24 reviews, with an average score of 3.6/10.
On April 22, 1994,
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
wrote for ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'': "What a good idea, to make a Western about four tough women. And what a sad movie."
Janet Maslin
Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...
, in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' review on the same day, ridiculed the film as "Cowpoke Barbie".
The film grossed $15,240,435 in the United States and Canada and $23 million worldwide.
[
]
Year-end lists
* Top 10 worst (listed alphabetically, not ranked) – Mike Mayo, ''The Roanoke Times
''The Roanoke Times'' is the primary newspaper in Southwestern Virginia and is based in Roanoke, Virginia, United States. It is published by Lee Enterprises. In addition to its headquarters in Roanoke, it maintains a bureau in Christiansburg, ...
''
* Worst films (not ranked) – Jeff Simon, ''The Buffalo News
''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It recently sold its headquarters to Uniland Development Corp. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by W ...
''
*Dishonorable mention – Glenn Lovell, ''San Jose Mercury News
''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidiar ...
''
* Dishonorable mention – Dan Craft, ''The Pantagraph
''The Pantagraph'' is a daily newspaper that serves Bloomington–Normal, Illinois, along with 60 communities and eight counties in the Central Illinois area. Its headquarters are in Bloomington and it is owned by Lee Enterprises. The name is d ...
''
Home media
The film was released on VHS and on DVD, which contains an uncut extended version.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bad Girls (Film)
1994 films
1990s action adventure films
1990s female buddy films
1990s satirical films
1994 Western (genre) films
20th Century Fox films
American action adventure films
American female buddy films
American satirical films
American Western (genre) films
1990s English-language films
1990s feminist films
Films about kidnapping
Films about friendship
Films about outlaws
Films about prostitution in the United States
Films directed by Jonathan Kaplan
Films scored by Jerry Goldsmith
Films set in the 1880s
Films shot in Texas
Girls with guns films
Films about rape in the United States
1990s American films