Pedestrian BioPic, lifted by performances

Rating: 7/10 (9 April 2010)

Ahhh, the 70s. For me, in middle America, it was a time of 3/4 length sleeve baseball t-shirts and bell bottoms, polyester and frustration that my hair wouldn't fall into a straight smooth wedge cut. I was listening to pop music and dancing to Soul Train.
On the west coast, things were more glam, with platforms and straight leg jeans. Watching the new movie, The Runaways is fun, because they do capture the essence of that time. Girls were taking this idea of women's liberation and pushing the envelope. An unsupervised teen named Joanie Larkin held on to a guitar that her Dad gave her and pursued big dreams of an all-girl rock band. Her story, along with Cherie Currie's memoir, Neon Angel, are combined to form The Runaways, which is the name of Joanie's band. She became Joan Jett, who teamed up with dodgey producer and promoter, Kim Fowley. They recruited Cherie and the other girls and shot to fame. But, this success story is also a cautionary tale, with 15 year old girls on their own, with raging hormones, unscrupulous adults and lots of drugs and booze available. I got to talk to Cherie Currie about those days, but I wish I could talk to her again, now, after the movie. There are so many more things I'd like to know. The book, Neon Angel, is compelling, but painful to read. The move, The Runaways, is compelling, but painful to watch. If you didn't know that much of what happens is true, you'd say it's unbelievable. I was interested in the story. The performances are excellent. I've never been a huge fan of Kristen Stewart, because she seems to play the same character, over and over. But here, it's almost as if she's channeling Joan Jett, and the portrayal is uncanny. Dakota Fanning is almost unrecognizable as Cherie Currie. Michael Shannon is creepy to the extreme as Kim Fowley. This trio elevates the movie above After School Special dialogue. It's the quiet scenes that stay with you: the band, in the back of a limo, after a long tour, looking old beyond their years; Joan, in the bathtub, crafting lyrics. Great story, some great performances, but the script and the storytelling fall short. I give The Runaways a 7 out of 10.