The Runaways (2010)
Certified: 15
Duration: 106 minutes
Directed by: Floria Sigismondi
Starring: Dakota Fanning, Kristen Stewart, Stella Maeve, Scout Taylor-Compton, Michael Shannon
KRS release
Floria Sigismondi’s film is a rock bio-picture, a symbol of girl power and a runaway showcase for two young actresses. At the same time, it’s a dizzy tale of excess and rock ‘n’ roll bitchiness and attitude.
Like the source material, The Runaways is a larger-than-life film. It has an insane flamboyance to it that is usually missing in most bio-pictures. And it’s written and directed by Floria Sigismondi, who has directed music videos for the likes of Marilyn Manson, David Bowie and The White Stripes.
At the start of the film, which is set in the 1970s, we meet two very different girls. One is Cherie (Dakota Fanning) who takes part in a school talent show where she lip-synchs to David Bowie’s Lady Grinning Soul and the other is wild child Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart), who plays the guitar (in that decade, it was unheard of for a girl to play the guitar!)
Outside a club, Joan meets the eccentric sleazeball Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon), a record producer. He gets her to meet with other musicians to form The Runaways, an all-girl rock band. Prowling the clubs for a singer, they meet Cherie and she goes to audition in a trailer park from which the song Cherry Bomb will be born.
The film follows The Runaway’s initial tours, their foray into Japan to find unparalleled success, their excessive lifestyle and, inevitably enough, their downfall.
The movie is dominated by its two young stars. Dakota Fanning has recently been given “adult” roles but this is the first time she has been allowed to strut her stuff with such abandon. Dressed like a lingerie Barbie come to life, sporting garish red lipstick and a smouldering vacant sensuality, her Cherie is the role she was waiting for. She will put any aspiring modern pop star in a fix as she shows what it was to be a shooting star in an industry at a time when it really mattered. Gone are the days of the child star… Dakota Fanning seems to be having fun!
Kristen Stewart is also given the chance to let loose. Away from the constraints and pinning of the Twilight franchise, this girl really embodies rock ‘n’ roll. Her Joan Jett looks real and knows what she wants in life. That is what I loved about the character, and even though I knew the story of the Runaways, I was really desperate to see her succeed.
The movie chronicles the life of Joan Jett, Cherie and Kim Fowley but ignores completely Lita Ford. The latter was the group’s virtuoso guitarist. She veered towards a harder kind of rock and later on enjoyed quite some success in her solo career; she even duetted with Ozzy Osbourne. The film’s music is a veritable 1970s soundtracks with hits by The Runaways, David Bowie, Suzi Quattro and Iggy & The Stooges.
The Runaways was a manufactured group which, however, embraced the wild spirit of the musical scene of the time. Other female bands tried to embrace the same spirit but never achieved the same success.