An exploding Cherry Bomb.

Rating: 7/10 (8 September 2010)

When I was looking at the two main movie magazines in the UK (Total Film and Empire)I noticed that both of them gave good reviews to a film that was coming out in a few weeks called The Runaways.As I went to find out more about the film on IMDb,I noticed that there was a side-bar on the front page,with a heading saying "This weeks new DVDs".As I read down the list,I was stunned to see that the film,which was just about to come out to cinemas in the UK,was coming out on disc in the US!.I decided after seeing this,that I would skip waiting for the next few months for it to come out on DVD here at the end of the year,and to just import it right away.
The plot:
A guitar-playing teenage girl (Joan Jett) decides,that she wants to start an all girl band,that will play the hard-rock proto-punk that she loves listening to.Her first stop on the road to setting up a band,is meeting infamous manager Kim Fowley.Fowlry introduces Jett to budding drummer Sandy West.Whilst the practise sessions go very well for both of them,everyone realise that they need to find a singer.As Joan and Kim spend there time in the local rock,Kim spots a girl (Cheerie Currie) who he thinks is a perfect match for the image that the band is going for.
With the rest of the band all set,the only problem that they have to deal with is having Cheerie being terrified about singing on stage.Thankfully for the group,the bands manager Kim Fowley gives Currie a very "different" way to perform a song that him and Joan Jett have written called Cherry Bomb.A time goes on,Cheerie starts to REALLY enjoy being a rock star.One of the side-effects of her starting to enjoy the fame,is that she jumps head-first into a deep drug addiction.Which,along with doing some very controversies erotic pictures,without telling the rest of the group.All of these things,unsurprisingly,cause each of the band members to get very alienated from each other...
View on the film:
For a movie that is named after its subject,I was disappointed that the screenplay by writer/director Flora Sigismondi seemed to be trying to make it look as if their were only two band members in The Runaways.Even though the film has two pretty good actress's to play Lita Ford and Sandy West,the total amount of screen time that they each have in the film,is about ten minutes!(and sadly,the only big scene that Ford is in,is her causing the band to have a huge argument with each other.)With the direction,Flora makes the look of the film really match the pace of the story.With the first half having a sandy sun- set California look,and the second half being very grey and faded,which helps to show the isolation that each of the band members are experiencing.
Due to the film,mostly focusing on the relationship between Chrerie Curry and Joan Jett,(something that seems to have really annoyed the real Joan Jett,is how much Chrerie revealed about the "private" relationship that they had,in the book which the film is based on.)both actress gave excellent performances.Kristen Stewart brushes a lot of the romantic side that she has become known for aside,by giving Joan Jett a huge amount of determination and confidence in her desire for people to be fans of the band for their music,and not for their looks. Dakota Fanning makes Curries transition in the film from sweet-and-innocent to "jailbait" look very natural,Fanning also does well at showing how dependent the character is on drugs in the second half of the film.
Final view on the film:
An extremely entertaining bio-pic,with very good performances and fantastic songs performed by the whole cast.