Scattershot biopic ; Stewart & Fanning acquit themselves nicely!

Rating: 7/10 (23 March 2010)

THE RUNAWAYS (2010) **1/2 Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Michael Shannon, Stella Maeve, Scout Taylor-Compton, Alia Shawkat, Riley Keough, Johnny Lewis, Tatum O'Neal, Brett Cullen, Hannah Marks. Scattershot biopic about rock and roll female band The Runaways focusing on the lead singer Cherie Currie and guitarist Joan Jett (admittedly I was skeptical when I heard the casting yet Fanning and Stewart, respectively, acquit themselves nicely) during the anything goes '70s with Svengali manager Kim Fowley (Shannon having a field day) as the full-of-himself (and something else) rock enthusiast seeing the future in this 'jail bait' band. While the aforementioned talent do a bang up job inhibiting their intimidating icon roles (especially Stewart with plenty of Body English –the shoulder-shrumped slouch is dead-on!), the film itself short-changes the other girls (i.e. Lita Ford, hell-o!) and is rather a by-the-numbers-melodrama. Yet the music rocks so that's something that first time director and screenwriter Floria Sigismondi (who adapted Currie's autobiography "Neon Angel: The Cherie Currie Story") does manage to capture the authentic feel of the era (grainy 16 mm footage helps too!) and the heart of rock and roll in general.