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Silas Howard, Harriet "Harry" Dodge, Stanya Kahn, Joan Jett, Carina Gia

Two women find love while trying to learn the fine art of bank robbery in this independent comedy-drama. Shy (Silas Howard) is a young butch lesbian from a small town in Kansas who has never figured o... read more read more...ut what she wants to do with her life. After the death of her father, Shy decides it's time she did something with herself; unable to think of a better career option than becoming a bank robber, she decides to hit the road for California, where the banks have more money than those at home. Along the way, Shy meets drag king Valentine (Harry Dodge) while rescuing her from a beating by a pack of rednecks, and for Shy and Valentine it's love at first sight. Shy and Valentine decide to join forces and head West like a same-sex Bonnie and Clyde, while Valentine also hopes to track down her birth mother along the way. But if Shy and Valentine are to become career criminals, it would be helpful if they had guns or knew anything about bank robbery, and the voyage teaches them a few practical lessons about living on the wrong side of the law. By Hook or by Crook was written and directed by its leading actresses, Silas Howard and Harry Dodge. Howard is best known as a member of the radical feminist punk band Tribe 8, while Dodge is a performance artist who appeared as one of the "Sprocket Holes" in John Waters' Cecil B. Demented. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Flixster Users

60% liked it

986 ratings

Critics

62% liked it

13 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 38 min.

Directed by: Harriet "Harry" Dodge, Silas Howard, Harriet Dodge, Harry Dodge

Release Date: October 25, 2002

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DVD Release Date: May 27, 2003

Stats: 32 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (32)

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Critic Reviews

V.A. Musetto
October 25, 2002
V.A. Musetto, New York Post

It quickly becomes tiresome and cliché-ridden -- not to mention depressing and pointless.

Wesley Morris
October 25, 2002
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe

The title ... must be alluding to the possibility that large parts of the movie are begged, borrowed, and stolen from early Gus Van Sant. Full Review

Dave Kehr
October 24, 2002
Dave Kehr, New York Times

By Hook or by Crook is, like its principal characters, a bit messy and maladroit but not without a certain charm. Full Review

Melissa Anderson
October 22, 2002
Melissa Anderson, Village Voice

Refreshingly, this tale of stone butch blues is rarely treatise-like; sexuality never devolves into agitprop. Full Review

Ted Shen
October 2, 2002
Ted Shen, Chicago Reader

Remarkable debut feature. Full Review

Mary Brennan
June 27, 2003
Mary Brennan, Seattle Times

A ragged but endearing buddy movie.

Moira Sullivan
April 23, 2003
Moira Sullivan, FilmFestivals.com

It's a buddy movie, albeit the queerest buddy movie ever that makes Midnight Cowboy look tame in comparison. Full Review

Merle Bertrand
December 8, 2002
Merle Bertrand, Film Threat

A weirdly compelling train wreck of a film that's as raw around the edges as its protagonists. Full Review

David Noh
October 29, 2002
David Noh, Film Journal International

Three weeks may be the ostensible time frame for the plot, but sitting through this nauseatingly whimsical and pointless confection feels like a downright eternity. Full Review

Ken Fox
October 25, 2002
Ken Fox, TV Guide's Movie Guide

An appealing, if decidedly unconventional, buddy picture. Full Review

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