Superb acting.

Rating: 7/10 (20 March 2010)

First of all, let me just say that these are the kinds of movies that make me wish I was alive during a different time period. But as it stands this is as close as one will get.
The acting made this movie. Kristen really transformed into Joan for this movie, you look at her and you don't see Kristen you see Joan. She had Joan down to the t, from her mannerisms to the attitude, you were watching Joan. Shannon was a scene stealer, you hate him at first but that's the point, that's how well he played Fowley. Dakota, seemed like she was holding back at first, but I feel like that's how she was supposed to play it, especially considering what kind of life Cherie had before The Runaways. And it definitely picks up as the movie goes along especially in her more dramatic scenes, one in particular that stands out is towards the end in a grocery store. She really shined in this film, she stood out, probably because we're used to seeing her as 'little' Dakota. Suffice it to say that Dakota proved she has what it takes for mature roles, she handled this role amazingly, and she brought a lot of depth to it. I think this was her and Kristen's best work by far. Bottome line the acting as a whole was superb, a solid A in my book. And yes, that 'A' includes Scout and Stella who did very well with what few moments they were given to work with.
Also I thought the way they stylized it was great, with the grain, the lighting, the way shots were framed. There were a number of very well shot, well edited scenes. The entire roller rink scene was actually done very well in my opinion, another very well shot/well done scene was when they performed Cherry Bomb in Japan, I think that was my favorite scene.
The only flaw was it's continuity, it sort of rushed through the different time periods, some scenes were rushed as well, I wish they would've shown a little more about how the band all got put together, also the roller rink scene. They didn't show enough of their road gigs, and Cherie's departure/Joan's 'tantrum' seemed rushed as well. But even with that, the film as a whole didn't suffer much at all, besides you really don't have much time to dwell on it because before you know it you're on to the next thing. Hopefully they'll include some extra scenes when it's released on DVD because I remember reading some stuff in the script that wasn't in the film.
So I give this film about a 7.6, as far as biopics of this kind go this was textbook, it was nothing revolutionary or epic, but the acting is what I think will make it stand out from the rest of that group. That said, it was very interesting to see what these girls went through as the first all girl band to play with such attitude and in that particular genre. Even as a guy I really get the message and feel it is inspiring.
I really enjoyed this film, and I have to admit Dakota was my favorite thing about the movie, I still think Kristen played her role the best, but it was just really something to see what Dakota was capable of in this film and how much depth she was able to bring to the role. Both performance blew me away to be honest, the acting really made this film, really. I definitely recommend it.