REVIEW: ‘The Runaways’
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RCC Rating: Worth Seeing At A Matinee |
Is it possible to like a movie based solely on two performances, even though you’re ambivalent towards everything else in the film? That’s the dilemma I find myself in when talking about “The Runaways,” the docudrama chronicling the rise and fall of the first all-girl rock group written and directed by Floria Sigismondi. While Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart are so outstanding in their roles as Cherie Currie and Joan Jett, respectively, Sigismondi’s script and direction let the film down in so many ways that it’s propped up by the sheer force of the lead actresses’ performances.
“The Runaways” is told from the perspective of Currie, who goes from being an awkward 15-year-old David Bowie devotee to a hard-doping frontwoman of an international touring rock band in less than two years. Currie is plucked out of an LA nightclub by producer Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon, another solid performance) and taught to sing with confidence, utilize sex appeal to grip an audience, and finally become the “jailbait sex kitten” the band needed as a lead singer. Before long, she’s snorting lines of cocaine off the floor, wandering through hotel hallways in a daze, and climbing into bed with roadies – and Joan Jett. (To its credit, the relationship between Currie and Jett is handled tastefully, and not anything resembling a lurid fashion.)
The script is based on Currie’s autobiography, and it shows: while there’s a healthy dose of Joan Jett in the movie, there’s almost no mention of the remaining band members. Yes, Jett was a large part of the Runaways’ appeal, but Lita Ford’s lead guitar work was as well, and she has all of three lines of dialogue in the whole movie. Drummer Sandy West has a slightly larger role, but only just. Had the movie been named “Cherie Bomb,” the emphasis on Currie and Jett might be less egregious.
There’s also pacing and timeline problems with the account of the band’s meteoric rise and breathtaking fall. The film goes into great detail on their tour of Japan, where their legacy is cemented (like so many rock bands of the Seventies), but other than showing the band doing early touring, the focus gets a bit squiffy.
However, it’s impossible to slag this movie because the lead performances are so strong. Kristen Stewart is as good as I’ve ever seen her on screen, and nails the performance as Jett. Her steely-eyed resolve belies an iron core, with a singular focus on becoming the rock goddess she knew she could be. Meanwhile, Dakota Fanning’s rendition of Currie is equally powerful. Her transformation from waif to rocker, to strung-out and burnt-out is something to behold.
Had Sigismondi brought in additional help with the script, either for tightening or narrative help, the performances from Fanning and Stewart wouldn’t be the only reasons to recommend the movie. The Runaways were a force to be reckoned with, both from Fowley’s direction and the band’s own will to scratch and claw their way to rock stardom. Their story deserved a better fate.
