Life In The Fast Lane

Rating: 7/10 (28 June 2013)

The Runaways is an entertaining story of the rise and fall of the eponymous band, with good lead performances by Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning as the mainstays of the group, Joan Jett and Cherie Currie. The story itself is a familiar one, no less so because it is probably largely true of the arc of many rock bands, an arc lampooned brilliantly by This is... Spinal Tap, and you will see comparisons between this film and that comic fiction, but what Christopher Guest did not stretch the limits of his fiction to are the wild-eyed antics of crack-pot impresario Kim Fowley, brilliantly played by Michael Shannon. Among the many fresh faces on show is an older one who was the child protégé of her day, Tatum O'Neal (ask your mum), daughter of Ryan O'Neal (ask your gran), as Cherie's mother. Enjoyable stuff, if not exactly family fayre, and definitely not one to watch with your 16 year old daughter (eeuw!).