Gang of Roses (2003)

Monica Calhoun is Rachel, former leader of a gang of female bank robbers, who takes refuge in the town of Flatridge with her younger sister after a civilian is killed in one of the holdups, violating her golden rule that no innocent bystanders get hurt.

Flatridge is a different sort of Western town, made up mostly of females.

At least until a rumor gets out that someone has inherited a fortune in gold and buried it somewhere in the town.

Next thing you know, Flatridge is being overrun with no-goods looking to get rich quick.

That includes Left Eye Watkins (Bobby Brown) and his fellow hoodlums. And, when it comes to the women, his gang figures to take what they want. In the process, Rachel’s sister is killed.

So Rachel reunites her old gang, summoning Chastity (Lil’ Kim), Kim (Stacey Dash), Zang Li (Maria Matiko) and Maira (Lisa Raye) to even the score.

And if they all wind up getting rich in the process, so much the better.

Review:

Billed as the first hip-hop Western, it’s probably also the first featuring a gang of all minority female gunfighters. That said, the plot isn’t so unique. In fact, two key scenes in the first 30 minutes are lifted from The Magnificent Seven and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Watching Lil’ Kim nearly burst out of her tight outfits is one of the film’s few highlights. The director was no idiot in one sense. He cast himself in role of the outlaw who gets to film a love scene with her.

Watch for cameos by Macy Gray and Mario Van Peebles that make very little sense. Also watch for the horse that takes dump in a scene late in the movie as the hidden treasure’s about to be discovered. That scene about sums up this flick, though it is a bit more stylish, and definitely more sexy, than lots of 21st century Westerns.

Directed by:
Jean-Claude La Marre

Cast:
Monica Calhoun … Rachel
“Lil’ Kim” Jones … Chastity
Stacey Dash … Kim
Marie Matiko … Zang Li
Lisa Raye … Maria
Bobby Brown … Left Eye Watkins
Jean-Claude La Marre … Baby Face Malone
Louis Mandylor … Sheriff Michel

Runtime: 94 min.

Memorable lines …

Rachel: “Rumors of gold and a town full of women seemed to attract the scum of the earth. Before long, Flatridge was everything I was trying to get away from.”

Kim, after she’s been rescued from the hangman’s noose: “Which one of you hussies missed that first shot? Cause that shit was not sexy.”
Chastity: “Actually, I thought you looked sorta sexy swinging back and forth like that.”

Maria, as Chastity grins at a hunk: “Don’t you ever get tired of that, Chas?”
Chastity: “I feel about men the same way you feel about money. So much of it, so little time.”

Kim: “I’m going out in a blaze of glory, just like the boys do it.”
Rachel: “Boys either wind up dead, in prison, or hanging from a rope. If that’s your idea of glory, it’s plain stupid to me.”