'The Runaways' Film Review

The Runaways

Released: 10 September 2010
Director: Floria Sigismondi

Starring: Dakota Fanning, Kristen Stewart, Stella Maeve, Scout Taylor-Compton, Michael Shannon
Writer: Floria Sigismondi
Producer(s): Bill Pohlad, Art Linson,
John Linson, Joan Jett, Kenny Laguna
Origin: United States
Running Time: 107 minutes
Genre: Drama, Biopic, Music
Rating: 16

Almost a runaway success.

Buddy Holly, Ray Charles, Johnny Cash....The Runaways. One of these things is not like the other. Many will be familiar with Joan Jett�s inexplicably popular ode to jukebox joints, 'I Love Rock 'n' Roll'; but mention of her former band The Runaways is likely to be met with a resounding �Who?�

This is hardly surprising; their music was pretty pedestrian glam rock and other than being �big in Japan� The Runaways are now little more than a footnote in rock history. The story of their rise and fall meanwhile follows that well-beaten track of sex, drugs and jealousy that have been the foundation of countless other rock-biopics. We�ve seen it all before but this time it just happens to be dressed up in leather and lace.

Floria Sigismondi�s film could therefore have been very dull indeed but fortunately, thanks to a skilful adaptation of singer Cherie Currie�s memoir, The Runaways rises above the usual rock-biopic clich�s. The focus is pulled in so tightly that the music becomes almost incidental to the affectionate coming of age story unfolding off-stage as the fifteen year old Currie attempts to deal with the pitfalls of fame.

Crucial to the film�s success are the performances of Dakota Fanning as Currie and Twilight�s Kristen Stewart as guitarist Joan Jett. At sixteen, Fanning still looks strikingly young and her performance is affected accordingly. While she is hauntingly on-point as an innocent stumbling into a fog of substance abuse and isolation, she doesn�t have the charisma to convince as a burgeoning rock star. Stewart on the other hand is right on the money as the young Jett. It is a quiet but nuanced performance with just the right combination of cocky swagger and adolescent awkwardness. Still, it is Michael Shannon who steals the show as band manager/svengali Kim Fowley; a man with a grotesquely inflated image of his own importance and a nice line in acerbic one-liners.

The Runaways is a strikingly stylish film to watch. Having cut her teeth in music videos Sigismondi has a lot of visual tricks up her sleeve to produce a beautifully realised vision of 1970�s Los Angeles- from the hazy, sun-bleached streets to the tobacco stained grubbiness of its night life.

This is a promising debut by Sigismondi and well worth a look irrespective of your musical allegiances.

-Linda O�Brien

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