Customer Reviews

The Runaways

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

It seems movies about punk rock seem to get the experience right, like, Sid and Nancy, and The Runaways. The bio-pics of the 60's era musician's either focus on the addictions or the music, but punk era bio-pics of the band seem to get both right. Not only does The Runaways manage to tell the story of the band, but also manages to translate the existential experience of the times and the music.

The Runaways follows the myth of the band, The Runaways. Created by Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon) a long time Sunset Strip dissipate/denizen with record producer cards in his pocket he meets the teenaged Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) who wanted to start an all girl band. Fowley accommodates her by her introducing her to drummer Sandy West (Stella Maeve) and they go prowling L.A. clubs to find a Bridget Bardot type to front the band and discover the 15 year old Cherie Curry (Dakota Fanning). Fowley soon has them in a an abandoned trailer to practice as he whips them into shape with his "Rock `n' Roll boot camp." The irony in The Runaways was that the band was the creation of the band (like the Sex Pistols owing their existence to Malcom McLaren) both of whom understood the style over substance philosophy of self-promotion and controversy. When The Runaways started discovering themselves as artists they had to fight Fowley who treated them as a product and that he owned them, and they owed their success to him.

As the band climbs to rock stardom, the movie captures at first the freedom and victory the first flash that success provides. But in the story of Runaways front woman Cherie Currie, who truly lived up to the band's name in trying to escape and avoid her father's alcohol problems, the sins of the father are visited upon the daughter and Currie finds herself wrapped up in drugs and alcohol. Much has been made about Fanning playing a role that is so "adult," but she is the same age Currie was as she lived it. The Who sung of "girls of 15 and sexually knowing" life can add years of experience to a teenagers life and Rock 'n' Roll can accelerate that; you can see it on Fannings face towards the end of the movie washed up at 17 Currie could have been well on her way to making Jim Morrison's death seem that of an old man.

Stewart and Fanning both disappear into their roles. Stewart seems to inhabit Joan Jett, she has the look down, she sounds like Jett, she even has the "hunch" over the microphone that Jett has when singing and playing. Michael Shannon is decadently creepy as Fowley. The other members of The Runaways are set in the background, Sandy West is there so The Runaways can form, and Lita Ford (Scout Taylor-Compton) when they need a little internal dissent in the band, but the movie is based on Cherie Currie's autobiogrpahy Neon Angel, and focuses on hers and Jett's story.

I read some of the previous reviews of the movie and I found the movie much better than the reviews, it's a story that rocks!

DVD Bonus Features: The Runaways DVD has a couple of nice bonus features. A commentary with Joan Jett, Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning. Some times the commentary sounds like three girls sitting in the row in front of you talking, but during key scenes of the movie Jett adds a few remembrances' or tidbits on how close to reality the scene is to make it worthwhile. There's also a nice little making of documentary "Plugged In" that talks with all the principals and key members of the crew.

I thought the performances by the two leads were terrific. However, Lita Ford got completely snubbed in this movie. If you didn't know the band and of her legacy you'd wouldn't even remember Lita Ford being in the group after watching this movie. Also, as someone that has seen them live, this movie really down played how raunchy and wild these girls performances really were (sexual behavior, blood, etc). The music was a lot cleaner too (like it was done in a studio) than how it really was, but I guess that's to be expected in a movie trying to be successful with a wider audience. Finally, they indicated sex was going on with the girls, but at the same time, they really steered around it avoiding any specifics (probably to protect the people involved as the girls were under age).

Oh, one other thing that bothered me quite a bit was at the end or the movie they say what happened to Joan Jett, Cherie Currie, and manager (went on to do so and so...). But, again they left out Lita Ford, Sandy and the bass player (who's name escapes me at the moment). That was really a huge mistake in my mind and I'm shocked they did that.

A note on the extras. I listened to the whole movie with the commentary by Joan Jett and the two stars. While interesting, the girls spoke over Joan Jett all the way through discussing their performances and just random stuff (mostly just talking to talk). I really wanted to hear from Joan what really happened through out, but she hardly was given a chance to tell us. Also, they should of asked the other band members to be there as well as their thoughts and memories would have been very interesting.

In the middle of the glitter and glam rock of Ziggy Stardust, sappy contemporary love songs, and upon the threshold of the disco era, a revolutionary genre of music was skirting right behind, the punk era of the mid to late 1970s and a Southern California all girl rock band called the Runaways. Indeed, one of rock and roll history's unsung bands to have emerged in musical history. The film adaptation of the rise and fall of the band is an eye-opening experience, especially for those who may not have heard of the band or may have had a small inkling of exposure of the music of any one of the band members, most famously, Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart), Lita Ford (Scout Taylor-Compton), Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning), Sandy West (Stella Maeve), and Jackie Fox; Fox is given the fictitious name of Robin (Alia Shawkat) due to her refusal to use her name in the film. Director Floria Sigismondi captures the decade with the images, the fashion, gender-bender appeal, and most importantly, the music of the Runaways that provide the soundtrack for the film.

The film does a good job showing a by-gone era that has long passed from platform shoes, bell-bottom jeans, and feathered-hairdos that typified the 70s. But the Runaways along with their male counterparts, the Ramones helped the listening public keep abreast with guitar driven rock amidst the dance fever that was riding the wave of the decade. However, fame and success does not come without unfortunate circumstances, ironies, and clichés that are explicitly displayed throughout this fairytale rags to riches story. It is these aspects that make the band's story interesting in two instances. First, young women barely 18 years old and making a name for themselves by playing, singing, and strutting their rock stage stuff within a male-dominated business that was highly charged with sexism during the height of the women liberation and feminist movement, which the women in the band were not trying to prove, but rather the opportunity to simply land a record contract, signed with Mercury Records, and to play rock and roll music in a man's world. This is stressed throughout the film by the girls' somewhat conniving manager/impresario Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon) who keeps the male-chauvinistic and raunchy sexual innuendo flying as he shows and trains the girls how to be rockstars and claims that the band will be as big as The Beatles; not quite but had a similar following with the mania and gaining fans as far as Japan. Second, the spotlight and melodramatic scenes of lead singer Cherie, her close relationship with her sister Marie, living within the shadow of her actress mother (played by Tatum O'Neal) and her downward spiral due to band member rivalry and drug addiction and guitarist and singer Joan who helped to keep the rock and roll spirit alive despite the tensions that surmounted that would eventually cause the band's demise but would reemerge as a solo artist to sing the most identifiable rock anthems, "I Love Rock and Roll."

The Runaways is an enticing film filled with nostalgia and the music. And possibly, the movie may finally allow the women to receive their due in rock and roll history 35 years later.

As the credits rolled for The Runaways I found it odd that it was suggested that the movie was based upon Runaways' lead singer Cherie Currie's book, Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway, because it seemed to me that during the course of the movie the focus was mainly on Joan Jett. Now I've not read Currie's memoir, but my guess is that it focuses more on Currie and less on Jett. However, the movie indeed was co-produced by Jett, so I guess that I really shouldn't have been too surprised.

Guitarist Lita Ford and Drummer Sandy West get little screen time, and even fewer lines. And any of the (I think it was three) real bass guitarists I don't think were even mentioned. The story focuses on Jett and Currie's relationship and personal lives more than it does the music, but don't get me wrong, music certainly is a major part of the movie.

The most interesting part of the music was watching the start up of the band and watching Record Producer Kim Fowley's major involvement. The biggest letdown of the movie was the omission of major parts of The Runaways touring days and tales of the road.

I happened to see The Runaways with The Ramones circa 1977 (at the Palladium in Passaic NJ I think it was). What a crazy show and I'm sure that most of the shows were just as crazy. Man, during The Runaways entire set I'll never forget the crowd chats, and let me tell you that the crowd was mostly chanting for crude favors versus more music. It would have been very interesting to see how the band dealt with that aspect of their career...and especially while out on the road with The Ramones.

Overall I was entertained by The Runaways movie, but felt it was largely incomplete...from a touring detail perspective and from the perspective of telling all of the band members' stories. Worth a watch if you were a fan or interested in their genre, but perhaps worth the wait for cable versus renting. No collector's item here.

Perhaps its simply ironic justice that a group so thoroughly abused by their managers, the press and each other would, in the ostensible retelling of their story, be so thoroughly abused by their filmmaker and two of their members. The most obvious clue to the on-going animosity between the band members is that bassist Jackie Fox is spitefully renamed in film as the fictional "Robin." This follows latter-day bassist Victory Tischler Blue being denied the use of original Runaways studio recordings for her documentary Edgeplay: A Film About the Runaways. Add to that the near complete absence of dialog for guitarist Lita Ford and drummer Sandy West in this "biopic," and you have a film that posits the Runaways as a springboard for Joan Jett's solo stardom. Even vocalist Cherie Currie, upon whose biography this script is ostensibly based, has her story short-changed in the telling.

The screenplay, credited to first-time feature director Floria Sigismondi, is a mess. The motivations and timeline are muddled, and the band's story isn't given any context. Was the band famous or only infamous? What led up to Cherie quitting the band? What happened to Lita and Sandy after The Runaways (or, for that matter, during their time in the Runaways)? The action and plot points often feel made up, rather than based on actual people and events. Worse, the characters' unending moroseness suggests there wasn't a moment of joy in the Runaways' career, and it remains unclear why any of the girls stayed involved in the band. The pacing is tortoise-like and the film's modern style fails to capture the mood of the times. The dialog and direction often reduce the `70s rock milieu to trite shorthand and communicate little feel for the period. The fictional Foxes, in which Currie was featured alongside Jodie Foster in 1980, is a better window into the hard partying hopelessness of late-70s Los Angeles.

Were the script and direction the only weak link, the film's leads might still have been entertaining, but they're out of their depth. Kristen Stewart shows little conviction as the firebrand Joan Jett. Dakota Fanning is no better, showing little charisma, sex appeal or rebel spirit, and often looks scared of her role rather than scared within it as an acted emotion. The real-life Currie is compelling and authoritative in the DVD's making-of documentary, showing Fanning's characterization to be docile and lost in comparison. The film would have been better cast without movie stars, so as to allow the actual band members' characters to take center stage. Michael Shannon provides a bravura performance as Kim Fowley, but Sigismondi gives him only one note to play, and his character quickly dissolves into repetition. The script fails to provide any of the characters dramatic arcs - no one is transformed, and when Currie declares that she wants her life back, the viewer is left to wonder why she wants to return to a life that was portrayed as being terrible to begin with.

The historical liberties and omissions are numerous, including the fictionalized introduction of Currie's infamous corset on the band's 1977 tour of Japan. Currie's been widely quoted as having purchased the item in Los Angeles and she can seen wearing it in a 1976 promotional video of "Cherry Bomb." More damaging to the film's credibility, the transformational sexual assault that Currie details in her autobiography is barely alluded to. Jackie Fox's departure is necessarily skipped, since the bassist was skipped altogether as a character in the film, and the film's end skips past the Runaways initial post-group activities, including Currie's solo album, her album (and hit single) with sister Marie, Joan Jett's trip to the UK, her work with Sex Pistols Paul Cook and Steve Jones, the recording of her 1980 eponymous debut, and Lita Ford's emergence as a metal guitar goddess. Instead, the film rushes to Jett's canonization as a solo superstar.

The film's credit-roll bios of Currie, Jett and Fowley provides the final FU to the rest of the band, whose contributions and post-band lives were apparently insufficiently important to merit mention. One might excuse the mythologizing of the Runaways as the first all-girl rock band (discounting Goldie & The Gingerbreds, the Feminine Complex, Fanny, and numerous garage-rock bands cataloged on Girls With Guitars), but the notion that Joan Jett was the band's sole artiste serves only to propagate the petty jealousies that tore the group apart in the first place. Floria Sigismondi's deft work as a modern music video director fails to provide the eye needed to sympathetically capture the feel of the 1970s, and in doing so she fails to tell the Runaways story in a way that does the band justice. [©2010 hyperbolium dot com]

The Runaways, based on Cherie Currie's autobiography, is a sadly flimsy account of the historic all-teenage girl band, their brushes with fame, and their eventual disintegration. Dakota Fanning stars as vocalist Currie, whose recruited into the band along with guitarist Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) by record producer Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon), who sees the marketing potential in this group. After managing to achieve some fame in Japan, we bear witness to the drug, booze, and sex-filled odyssey that they partake in, with Currie in particular going on a downward spiral. Any fans of The Runaways will quickly note the historical inaccuracies of the film, most notably due to various legal reasons and disputes with Jett, who serves as the film's co-producer. Drummer Sandy West (Stella Maeve) is only glossed over, while Lita Ford (Rob Zombie's Halloween's Scout Taylor-Compton) barely makes an impact, and Jackie Fox is replaced by "Robin" (Arrested Development's Alia Shawkat). That in itself is a bit annoying, but the film itself is more over the top than one may expect. Still, Fanning and Stewart are surprisingly great in the lead roles, with Stewart in particular looking, moving, and even playing like the legendary rocker herself. Michael Shannon is having such a blast as Fowley that you love to hate him, and he steals every scene that he's in. Flaws aside, The Runaways is an entertaining rock bio-pic that is worth checking out, but purists and newcomers of the band may not find the film particularly enjoyable.

I really enjoyed this film. It's a good example of the exploitation many musicians and actors experience in their journey toward stardom. People often give up their lives to achieve their dreams or become a success, but there's often a big price to pay. The movie was produced by Joan Jett, based on a book by Cherie Currie, so I find it believable that it's (hopefully) a fairly accurate account of the quick rise and fall of the Runaways.

The fact that a group of high school aged girls experienced this is what is so amazing to me. Kim Fowley undoubtedly got them there, but if this story holds any truth then he was a total slimeball for blatantly exploiting them sexually and promoting them as "jail bait." As the saying goes, sex sells. And maybe "you gotta sell your soul for rock and roll," but these girls were just kids who were given an offer many people would not hesitate to refuse. Especially someone like Joan Jett, who was apparently just like me growing up: I lived and breathed music, and an opportunity like that would have been the moment I had been living for.

It bothered me that Lita Ford was given barely a shred of recognition. She deserves credit for being one of the small group of female rock guitarists who got noticed for their talent in a male-dominated industry. I was left with the impression that she was not liked by Jett or Currie, and they were simply thrown together by their producer and tried to tolerate each other. They could have at least given her a few lines at the end when they showed the brief synopses of what happened to the characters afterward. In the grand scheme of things this was a brief moment in the lives of Jett and Currie, so maybe they wanted to focus on their personal perspective of the events.

I knew ahead of time that Jett and Currie coached the lead actresses in their roles, so I went in with some confidence that they were going to do good character portrayals. I've never been a big fan of Kristen Stewart, but she nailed the performance and was convincing in the role of Joan Jett. Dakota Fanning is never disappoints me, and I think she outdid herself once again and proved that she can take on just about any character no matter how diverse. I suppose I can see why they created a fictional bassist - since they went through several of them during that short period of time - but it was disappointing for me to see a talented actress like Alia Shawkat in the role of a character that hardly uttered a word. I know ... it was her choice to do it.

If you appreciate the significant contributions that certain bands have made in the history of music - whether or not you're a fan - you will probably enjoy this movie.

This film has some issues, it's true. It's based on Cherie Currie's book, and Joan Jett executive produced it, so the movie deals mostly with only two of the Runaways. In fact, Lita Ford is reduced to complaining about Cherie Currie receiving more than her fair share of attention. For me, this added a layer of irony to an otherwise shallow band biopic.

The lack of depth really isn't a downside, at least not for me. The band wasn't all that deep. What made them great was timing, youth, novelty, and amazing energy. Punk was just hitting its stride in 1975, and the Runaways were perfectly positioned. But they somehow ended up making songs - at least some songs - that hold up really well. The movie illustrates, very deftly, how this was partly by accident, partly by the sheer force of Joan Jett's will, and partly by Kim Fowley's perverted design.

To that end, maybe by accident, maybe by design, who knows? the movie makes fantastic use of stunt casting in the small roles. Marie Currie, Cherie's twin who joined her in later musical endeavors, is played by Elvis' granddaughter Riley Keough. Robert Romanus, the smarmy Mike Damone from Fast Times at Ridgemont High, plays the smarmy guitar teacher who disses Joan Jett and tries to make her play On Top of Old Smoky.

Cherie Currie's mother, actress Marie Harmon, is played to perfection by mother of the year Tatum O'Neal (who looks amazing, by the way). And, in the biggest and best bit of stunt casting, Kristen Stewart, who in real life strongly resembles Cherie, absolutely disappears into the role of Joan Jett. The overall effect of this is to communicate the similarities between Jett and Curry without adding a word of dialogue. Dakota Fanning, although physically softer-looking than Currie, is used well to convey how very young Currie really was during her time as a Runaway.

I didn't walk away with any deep lasting impressions after watching this - except that Courtney Love should be sending Cherie Currie royalty checks, but it is a movie I would watch more than once on dvd. The soundtrack is a nice mix of real Joan Jett and surprisingly good performances from Fanning and Stewart, together with some glam classics.

This is one of those movies I'm a little torn over. While it is solidly made, and pays great attention to details of period and style, it's not really about the Runaways. It's about Joan Jett and Cherie Currie. Since these are the two most well-known women from the group I can understand if they'd gotten a bit more screen time, but there are three other important stories there that have been completely ignored(not the least of which is the successful, pioneering career of Lita Ford). I believe it would have been a much better viewing experience if my expectations had been different- say if the title had been "Cherie and Joan" or something to that effect. Over all I was a little disappointed.
However, if you've never heard of The Runaways before, and you are interested in a brief and exciting period in the 1970's when rebellion was still frowned upon by the masses, then it's probably a great movie for you.

Music biopics have a tendency to be bloated affairs. Like "The Doors", for example. Or overly sentimental like "Selena" (although to be fair, it was hard for that one not to be sentimental). Or they just have a need to have their eye on the Oscar-driven prize like "Walk the Line."

The Runaways fits none of the categories above.

Filmed for less than $10m, The Runaways is an unpretentious romp of a bygone era. It earns its polyester points on its authentic vibe of bad hair and great music.

As the movie is loosely based on Cherie Curie's autobiography, Neon Angel, it is Dakota Fanning, as Curie, who has the lead role. Fanning does a decent job of portraying the needy Curie who isn't quite fragile but not quite stable either (but who is at 15?). There were a few times when Fanning seemed a little out of her depth but overall, the performance is solid.

In the pivotal role of Joan Jett, Kristen Stewart takes on every known nuance that is Joan Jett. From the slouchy style of performing to the sexy androgyny that made her famous. It almost seems like Stewart was born to play Jett. Stewart's Jett is focused in a non-showy way which is in keeping with Jett herself. Another actress may have felt pressure to take it up a notch but perhaps Jett, who was on-set for much of the filming, advised Stewart to keep it lower key. Whoever advised it, it seems a good choice as Stewart provides the charismatic anchor in Joan to Fanning's beautiful but flaky Cherie.

But the real movie stealer is Michael Shannon as the robust, raunchy, redoubtable Kim Fowley. A Svengali who was manipulative, abusive and yet, he delivered. Its a showy part but Fowley was a showy guy and Shannon chews it up and spits it out and grabs it back to chew it some more. When he's in a scene, the movie pops and goes up more than a few notches.

There are some downsides to the movie. The audience doesn't get to see how band members Lita Ford and composite bassist "Robin" becomes part of the band. There is a little too much of the Curie family and not enough of the band.

But overall, the performances by the three main leads as well as an authentic, joyful vibe of the 70s won me over. I mean, yeah, the 70s was crazy, schizo, and all over the place, but if you survived it, you still looked back on it with fondness. That's kind of how The Runaways is. A look back at a crazy, schizo time where the stories are half-done but the music was really good.

That's why I gave it 5 stars (Actually, its 4.5 stars but I rounded up).