By Hook Or By Crook (2001)

62% of critics liked it
(13 reviews)
60% of users liked it
(988 ratings)

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 out what she wants to do with her life. After the death of her father, Shy decides it's time she did… More 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 out 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

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 38 min.
Directed By: Harriet "Harry" Dodge, Silas Howard
Written By: Harriet "Harry" Dodge, Silas Flipper
Genres: Drama, Romance, Sports & Fitness, Gay & Lesbian, Comedy

In Theaters: Oct 25, 2002 Limited
On DVD: May 27, 2003
Studio: Artistic License Films

Critic Reviews

V.A. Musetto, New York Post
It quickly becomes tiresome and cliché-ridden -- not to mention depressing and pointless.
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.
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.
Melissa Anderson, Village Voice
Refreshingly, this tale of stone butch blues is rarely treatise-like; sexuality never devolves into agitprop.
Ted Shen, Chicago Reader
Remarkable debut feature.
Mary Brennan, Seattle Times
A ragged but endearing buddy movie.
Moira Sullivan, FilmFestivals.com
It's a buddy movie, albeit the queerest buddy movie ever that makes Midnight Cowboy look tame in comparison.
Merle Bertrand, Film Threat
A weirdly compelling train wreck of a film that's as raw around the edges as its protagonists.
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.
Ken Fox, TV Guide's Movie Guide
An appealing, if decidedly unconventional, buddy picture.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
Rather staid and uninteresting road trip.
Jon Popick, Planet Sick-Boy
One of the best independently financed bank-robbery flicks since Bottle Rocket, despite the complete absence of any actual bank robberies.