BY HOOK OR BY CROOK []

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SHY, a butch lesbian, puts on a suit and tie and quits her small town for the big city.

In San Francisco, she hooks up with Valentine, a bearded butch lesbian, and Val’s fem girlfriend, Billie, and the three set out on a life of petty crime.

“By Hook,” written and directed by Silas Howard, who plays Shy, and Harriet “Harry” Dodge, who portrays Val, has a promising start.

But it quickly becomes tiresome and cliché-ridden – not to mention depressing and pointless.

Running time: 98 minutes. Notrated (girl-girl sex, nudity). At theScreening Room, Varick andCanal streets.