Rock 'n' roll bio-pics are nothing new to Hollywood, and given the cable networks' documentaries that run consistently it's even trickier to elevate an up-and-down narrative capturing the peaks and valleys of a musician or band's career. Usually, we've seen it all before.Every once in a while, however, a director finds a particular tale and has the right voice to make a successful film from elements that may seem redundant. Music video director Floria Sigismondi aims for that goal with her new film "The Runaways."
While many may not remember the short-lived female punk band, they have been listed by many later female acts and entertainers as a big influence. The film opens circa 1975 where we find friends and fellow underage club rats Cherie Curry (Dakota Fanning) and Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) looking to start a band of their own and escape their bleak circumstances. Jett seems to have no one in her life, and Currie has an alcoholic father, a runaway mother and a sister who helps take care of things.
It isn't long before they cross paths with Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon, "Revolutionary Road"), a record producer with an extensive resume of bringing bands up through the ranks. Selling him on the idea of pioneering an all-girl rock band doesn't take very long, and scouting out Sandy West (Stella Maeve, "Gossip Girl") and Lita Ford (Scout Taylor-Compton, "Halloween II") the foursome is soon in training.
To say Fowley turns out to be a sleazy slave driver is an understatement - you know he is trying to prepare them in rough fashion for a profession ruled by men when he hires kids to come into the makeshift studio and fling dog feces at them. While the band is getting its jumpstart we also are following the relationship between Jett and Currie, handled deftly by the director, who suggests they were a little more than bandmates and friends.
"The Runaways" follows a fairly predictable path in telling the band's story: Drug addiction, squabbles over the limelight, and the basic ascent and descent of a short-lived but revered band. But Sigismondi, working from Currie's memoir, captures a fresh and interesting take on the inner workings of a band that fueled a whole lot of female empowerment. Because of The Runaways, many a female took up guitar or bass understanding they could play with the boys. Ranging in ages from 15 to 16, these young ladies experienced a whole lot very quickly, and it makes you question the state of handling young acts today.
"The Runaways" succeeds mostly because it manages to find a fresh look on themes we've seen before. The stellar soundtrack certainly doesn't hurt, and neither do the performances. Dakota Fanning is hardly recognizable from the young girl we saw in films such as "Man on Fire" and "I am Sam," but is still every bit the pro she was in her younger years. Her portrayal of Currie may not be anything we've not seen before, yet she makes the sad past of a troubled teen-turned-used-rock-star her own character. Kristen Stewart of "Twilight" fame owns Joan Jett as if she were almost born to play her. She manages to bring Jett's proud, rebellious and ambitious traits out perfectly, even adding a softer and more protective side in certain scenes. It would have been nice to see a little more character-sketching into the West and Ford characters, as they are basically reduced to wall paper, but Stewart and Fanning are enough to carry the film.
I will be looking forward to seeing more films from Sigismondi. With "The Runaways" she found an interesting tale in rock 'n' roll history and executed it almost perfectly. This is one bio-pic that thankfully does not come off as stale and is worthy of your time. You get a chance to see that long before there was Courtney Love, or even Pat Benatar, there was The Runaways.
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~Robstenfan
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