Musicians make excellent fodder for films, their stories more often than not involve youth, drugs, sex and fashion as well as the not insignificant aid of a ready-to-use soundtrack. The twist that The Runaways bring to this genre is gender. Together from 1975 to 1979, The Runaways were an all-girl American band. The teenage musicians had hits like Cherry Bomb, Queens of Noise and Born to be Bad. Even though their band-life was short, The Runaways are viewed to have been hugely influential, specifically for opening up the punk/rock music terrain for female artists. It is this story of girls gone wild, rebelling against convention and society that this film sets up, focusing on the relationship between lead singer, Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning) and rhythm guitarist/songwriter, Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart).
Starting with the drummer, Sandy West (Stella Maeve, Transamerica) and Jett coming up with a musical style for a girl band and the search for a suitable lead singer, the film charts the formation of The Runaways, aided by music producer, Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road). Showing the quick success of the band, specifically concerned with their 1977 sold out tour in Japan, the film highlights the impacts of drugs and in-fighting on its demise.
imageDirector Floria Sigismondi, with her background in music videos has created a film that captures the grime and salaciousness of the story, without completely exploiting the characters within it (Fanning does seem to spend a large part of the film in underwear). The Runaways is certainly a visually stylish film, with the influences of glam rock and punk that the music extols- this is a film that is very much more concerned with attitude than truth.
There are definite scripting problems with The Runaways- most obviously the imbalance between the film’s central parts- partially due to the film’s source material- Cherie Currie’s book Neon Angels: Memoir of a Runaway. Slowly, but surely, attention shifts almost solely over to Currie, with far less time and interest given to Jett’s background or home life (interestingly Joan Jett is the Executive Producer on the film, so maybe that’s how she wanted it). However Jett’s slow edging out of the story is nothing compared to the limited representation of the rest of the band. Lead guitarist, Lita Ford (South Taylor Compton, Rob Zombies’ Halloween) and fictional bassist, Robin (Alia Shawkat, Whip It)- in reality the bassists changed over the years- turn up in the band without any explanation or background, in fact it is hard to remember if Shawkat even has a speaking part, Sandy West’s character fares a little better, but not much. The Runaways definitely feels like it narrowed the field of play down too far, so much so that it would be wrong to label this film as a biopic of the band.
imageYou watch this film with partial wonder and partial concern. The exploitation of the group as ‘jailbait’ and specifically the manufacturing of Currie’s image as Lolita-eque sex kitten by Fowley undermines the ‘girl-power’ message of the band’s music. Shannon is fantastic as Fowley and does a fair amount of scene-stealing. Both Fanning and Stewart do well with the material, especially given the added component of singing and playing instruments. Stewart shows off a tougher persona than we usually see from her, proving she is far more than just a pout. Ultimately though the standout in the film is Fanning, who seems to be successfully transitioning from child to adult actor.
