Nice Performances Sell the Film

Rating: Null/10 (18 September 2010)

Runaways, The (2010)
*** (out of 4)
By the numbers but entertaining look at the girl rock group The Runaways and their lead singer Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning) and guitar player Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart). The film follows them from being discovered by producer Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon) to the touring, drug addiction and eventual break-up. It's hard to watch any rock and roll film today and not feel a bit of deja vu because all of these bios are starting to look like one another. I guess you can't blame the stories so much it's just that all of these artists pretty much lived the same type of lives and they followed the same paths of destruction. While we have seen everything here before, this is still a pretty strong film thanks in large part to some terrific performances by the leads. Stewart certainly has the look and energy as Jett and I thought she was very believable in the role. The scenes with her shouting, screaming and trying to take control of a situation towards the end of the film inside a sound booth was very effective. I also thought Shannon was terrific as the creepy, Frankenstein-looking producer who is as out there as any character we've seen from these rock pics. Scout Taylor-Compton is nice in her scenes as Lita Ford and even Tatum O'Neal shows up as Currie's mother. The real star of the picture is without question Fanning who makes the role her own and does so much with it even though we've seen that type of character before. I thought Fanning was incredibly effective as you could really feel the torture her character was going through and you could just see all the demons that she was battling. She certainly has the sexuality for the role but she also gave so much in terms of the character development that you can't take your eyes off of her. The music in the film was another plus even though I wasn't overly familiar with it. I thought the way they used the music in the film was effective and especially towards the end when Jett begins to break out on her own. I think the most entertaining thing here is the stuff we've seen before and that's the rise to the top and eventual fall. I think the film suffers when it tries to center on more professional relationships like the one between Currie and her sister. I never bought into that relationship and thought the film was more entertaining when it focused on the band. With that said, THE RUNAWAYS isn't a classic film but it's got a great atmosphere and strong performances that makes it worth seeing.