'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 clichés. 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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