San Fernando Valley of the Dolls

Rating: 7/10 (27 March 2011)

Edie Sedgwick does Tarantino in this grimy tale of androgynous, pixie, she-beasts. It's angry, loud, and rude...but with a Warhol-esque indifference to higher purpose, and laissez faires sense of humor.
As far as quality goes, Dakota Fanning is priceless in a campy, charmingly self-indulgent performance. I do not subscribe to todays trendy loathing of Kristen Stuart, but must admit her Joan Jett is not very dynamic. She looks right in the hair and makeup, but her impersonation seems forced. Fanning steels the show, helped along by an enthusiastic Kim Fowley as portrayed by Michael Shannon. The film also has a great sense of era and atmosphere.
But if you're trying to find a good movie in this, you're missing the point. It's an enjoyably bad movie, about enjoyably bad music: a gloriously heinous tribute to lowbrow glam, and an unabashedly vulgar study of D-list celebrity...a sort of half-a$$ed, suburban parody of Valley of the Dolls. Lovers of the awful, the depraved, and awesomely-bad style will enjoy a noncommittal, good-humored dabbling in this raw gem.