The Runaways – movie review from modmove

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The Runaways
Why? This is the question that remains after viewing The Runaways, a rockudrama about the band of the title which begat the career of Joan Jett. Jett, with her subsequent band The Blackhearts, had a worldwide hit with her cover of I Love Rock'N'Roll affording her a brief moment in the sun but the reality is her stock rock hit represents but a footnote in the history of popular music. It's telling that, in Australia at least, the song is more likely to evoke memories of former Victorian Premier, Joan Kirner, performing the song on the comedy programme, The Late Show, than Jett herself.

The film is unremarkable for its lack of uniqueness in depicting the lives of a group of enthusiastic teenagers forming a band, getting exploited by their manager, falling prey to sex and drugs, and promptly self destructing. This is the standard narrative of just about every rockudrama ever made and most are done better than this.

The film is, however, conspicuous for its lack of detail. The movie makes it look like the band disintegrated before they recorded an album when, in fact, they recorded five. Cherie Currie is the only member of the band whose background is explored; we know little of where any of the other girls came from. It is particularly curious, for example, that guitar player, Lita Ford, subsequently went on to a substantial solo career yet she barely rates a mention in the film beyond goading Currie into leaving the band and thus (apparently) precipitating its destruction. That the film is based on Currie's memoir, Neon Angel, gives weight to the assertion that this is merely one side of a five-faceted story.

‘Droll’ is a good word to describe the overall tone of the film including most of its performances. Kristen Stewart plays Bella playing Joan Jett and if this was the role to expel any doubt regarding her acting chops, it fails to convince. As Cherie Currie, Dakota Fanning has the most to gain (and lose) from this project, breaking significantly from the tone of her prior body of work. By the midway point, Fanning finds something within herself to lift her character off the screen, creating one of the few genuine points of interest within the film. That her role is by far the meatiest is unsurprising given that the film is based on Currie's book. Michael Shannon also adds welcome colour in his smallish role as manager, Kim Fowley. But the truth is the soundtrack has more soul than the performances, the direction or the script.

So why was this made? Well, Jett is executive producer of this adaptation of her band buddy's book; it provides current ‘hot’ girl, Kristen Stewart, with a ‘meaty’ role to sink her teeth into; and it delivers an opportunity for Fanning to shed her squeaky-clean child star image - I guess. Altogether though, this is an inconsequential telling of a relatively inconsequential slice of rock history that will appeal to few others than those who were fans of the band presented.
Stuart Jamieson
www.sonypictures.com


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