Jailbait that knows how to rock.
I didn’t want to like The Runaways. Teenage girls and rock music just didn’t sound appealing. Plus you have Kristen Stewart and the whole Twilight thing overshadowing her work as an actress. Even with the success of that vampire movie nobody rushed out to see Adventureland. Dakota Fanning, on the other hand, has been steadily working in films since the age of seven, playing alongside the likes of Sean Penn, Denzel Washington, and Tom Cruise. She’s a teenager now looking to make the transition to more adult-oriented roles. So to hear that they were both going to star in a fictionalized account of rock ‘n’ roll’s first all-girl band I was skeptical.
However The Runaways, to my surprise, is an entertaining, if all-too-generic, biopic. Though, having the name of the band as the film’s title is a bit disconcerting. It’s more the Joan Jett and Cherie Currie Show as the rest of the band is left playing their instruments in the background. With the exception of Lita Ford’s character, hardly any other band member speaks. Which is sad, because Alia Shawkat, who is wonderful as Ellen Page’s friend in Whip It, has like two or three lines.
As the only male presence – not counting roadies – Michael Shannon plays the band’s manager Kim Fowley with the right amount of gusto. Crazy as all get out and over the top whenever possible, he chews the scenery and steals some for later. Whether he’s boinking someone on his desk while talking on the phone or trying to intimidate the band, Shannon is a magnetic presence. He’s also portrayed as the villain. But he’s a manager, he’s supposed to be an a**hole.
Where the film falters is condensing the band’s history into a manageable two hours. Writer/director Floria Sigismodi’s debut is more of an overview than an in-depth look at the band. She rushes through Joan Jett’s arc of wanting to be a rock musician. From her meeting Kim Fowley at Rodney Bingenheimer’s English Disco in Hollywood to being introduced to drummer Sandy West, the band is quickly formed. The only thing missing was a lead singer. During jam sessions in a cramped RV, Fowley illustrates with a finger pointing to a woman’s crotch (actually a picture of French actress Bridget Bardot) as to what the band needs. More sex.
Say hello to Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie, a feather-blonde bombshell who has musical aspirations after performing as David Bowie for a high school talent show. Currie shows up to the audition wanting to sing a rendition of Peggy Lee’s “Fever” – not really a song that requires a rock band assembly. After that song gets nixed “Cherry Bomb” is written on the fly, to which Currie nails after so much needed coaxing from Fowley. The rock ‘n’ roll boot camp commences and includes lessons like heckling – dogshit is thrown – to help the girls deal with irate patrons. Quickly, The Runaways are off and running, playing homes and bar stops around Los Angeles before cutting an album and touring Japan.
Outside of the touring and performing are the intimate moments should be the strongest parts of the biopic. Except there aren’t enough of them. Kristen Stewart takes a break from loving vampires to play the hard-edged Joan Jett, a punk rocker with a mane of so-dark-it-must-be-spray-painted-on black hair. She’s good in her role, but it is Fanning as Currie who is the most interesting. Having been abandoned by her mother (who moves with her new husband to Indonesia) she returns the favor to her alcoholic father and sister Marie, ditching them to embrace the rock and roll life. It doesn’t take long before the girls fall victim to the lifestyle, experimenting with drugs and sex. Fanning and Stewart share an intimate kiss that leads to a sex scene that is disguised with quick cuts and camera movements.
That’s something to appreciate. Sigmondi isn’t trying to appease Twilight fans by refraining from the bad elements of rock and roll. There is pill-popping and coke-snorting; quickies in the bathroom; and the discovery of masturbation.
Full of rock music, both sung by Fanning and Stewart as well as the original Runaways, the result is a mixed bag. Of course Fanning and Stewart can’t compare to their true-life alter-egos, but at least there’s passion behind those vocal inflections and guitar strumming.
As much as the director would like it to be, The Runaways is not the definitive film about female rock musicians in the 1970s. But it is effective at adhering to what has worked for biopics in the past – namely the price of attaining fame and how easy it is to lose. And as big a weakness the compression of time is to the storytelling, the performances by Fanning, Stewart and Shannon (not necessarily in that order) and a strong soundtrack more than make up for it.
Note: One of the reasons why the other band members were hardly acknowledged is because of signed consent. At least one of the original members didn’t agree with the project and would not sign off on having her likeness portrayed on screen.
Director: Floria Sigismodi
Notable Cast: Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Michael Shannon, Alia Shawkat, Riley Keough, Tatum O’Neal, Scout Taylor-Compton
Writer(s): Floria Sigismodi, based on the book Neon Angel: The Cherie Currie Story
