The Runaways (2010)
The Runaways (2010)
6.3/10
The Runaways is a difficult film to review. On the one hand this could have been an extremely sugarcoated film which it is not…but in actuality it is. On the one hand one could watch this film then read one paragraph about The Runaways, walking away with the same amount of information and/or fictional understanding. On the other hand the film is so well shot, with certain scenes rising so far above the content quality of the film; it becomes difficult to figure out where to stand. In the end is it a good film? Not really. However, the look and feel of the film punctuated by specific scenes, particularly the performance ones and the lead performances by Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart are what keep this extremely basic biopic afloat.
The film starts out following Cherie Currie and Joan Jett in their separate endeavors pre-Runaways. Cherie seems lost following her sister around and performing at a talent concert lip synching to David Bowie. She gets booed offstage which she deems as a personal success both as a defense mechanism and a hope to be separated by her peers. Joan hangs out frequently with a friend doing drugs and teaching herself to play guitar. In an obvious scene, she tries to take guitar lessons which lead to her being told “girls don’t play electric guitar”. In a predictable act of defiance, Joan plugs her guitar into the amp and starts playing. Since these are essentially the only scenes that take the time to establish Joan as a character, it is unfortunate that they are so contrived.
Joan sees record producer Kim Fowley outside of a club and approaches him about the idea of an all-girl rock band. He is intrigued enough to experiment with the idea and he introduces her to Sandy Powell, a drummer and eventual co-founder of the group. Once the band is assembled Fowley decides a Bardot-like figure needs to front the group and this leads them to Cherie. The film then charts the rise and fall of the band but particularly of Currie whose descent into drugs and sex feeds her efforts to get away from her hometown and her dysfunctional family.
While Cherie’s mother leaves her and her twin sister Marie for Indonesia and her father is an alcoholic who is only getting worse, Cherie’s relationship with Marie receives the most consideration. Their relationship gets a lot of attention and the film does a nice job of letting us understand that Marie’s jealousy of Cherie and consequential lashing out are a defense mechanism and that Cherie’s refusal to take any of the responsibility that Marie carries is a resistance of what she is afraid her life will turn into. While these scenes still carry the predictability laden throughout the film, it is effective enough to be considered successful.
The performance scenes are so much better than anything else that the film quickly becomes an uneven experience. Director Floria Sigismondi creates a whirlwind of sexual energy and musical ambition with these scenes which are astounding to watch. In their first performance scene when they start their tour the scene is shot pretty conventionally. By the end the girls have pushed out the audience in their minds. There is no background and the camera is constantly spinning. These girls are officially caught up in the moment both in song and in their own hype. The scene which features “Cherry Bomb” catches Cherie at the film’s pinnacle of her self-exploitation. The scene features Cherie’s energy and focuses on her own need for attention culminating in a slow motion shot of Cherie rocking out, microphone wrapped around her leg. In addition to these scenes, Joan and Cherie’s tryst to the use of The Stooges “I Wanna Be Your Dog” is the sexiest scene in a film since George and Carlos shared a cigarette in A Single Man. Cherie’s lip-synching near the start of the film also is a standout.These scenes as well as one near the end with Cherie in a grocery store I could watch over and over and over.
Generally, The Runaways plays it too safe. While there are stirrings of risk in the film it should have gone full throttle into the mess these girls found themselves in. The film does not need to be accurate as long as it captures a general sense of the real story and it seems that everything is so inaccurate that it cannot even stand as any sort of representation of this band. The film goes further than I expected it to though, which makes it seem more confusing as to why the film stops where it does. Cherie’s exploration of sex and drugs is painfully broad and it makes her experience completely void of any specific identity. Joan’s character is essentially dropped after the first 15 minutes. While she gets a nice scene at the end, her lack of presence throughout is misleading based on her time near the beginning. Yes, this is based off of Curries’ memoir Neon Angel but it becomes an issue when the film pretends to be an examination of both people. Kristen Stewart is really great here as Joan though and she manages to bring something to every moment she is given which in the long run allows her to create an arc through her own emotive abilities. Being in a band means something completely different for her; as she states, it is her life.
The casting of Dakota Fanning is pretty brilliant. Not because of her specifically even though she is great but because of her age. Cherie is sexualized throughout the film and its appeal and subsequent discomfort would not have been present if the film had a 20 year old playing Cherie. Having a 15 year old play the 15 year old Currie is smart because it makes discomfort associated with the sexualizing of the real Currie transfers into the film due to Fanning’s youth. She is equally entrancing to watch as she truly feels like a girl in over her head; self-destructive and vulnerable.
The film also does a nice job of capturing the era. While the soundtrack is quite uninventive, there are still some great tracks to be found. While interesting, The Runaways broadening with this plunge makes it, in a way, a more mediocre film. Since it does not take the time to be making any broad statements about the decade or music or anything its immersion is somewhat unjustified. There is barely any real character development in the script and what there is appear to be lazy and obvious. The actors bring a sense of subtlety to everything and they keep the script from truly emerging as the problem it is.
While these are mostly complaints, I actually quite liked The Runaways. It is able to sustain interest throughout due to the performances and specific moments and scenes. It also it very entertaining and can easily be enjoyed by anyone looking for something to watch. The film also does a nice job of exploring the idea of an all-girl band and whether or not it is more admirable to stay true to oneself or to adapt to a “man’s world” on their terms. Kim Fowley keeps saying that they have to assert themselves as sexual creatures in order to succeed. The compromise between their talents as a band and how to present oneself is an underlying theme in the film that should have been explored more; still it is there nonetheless. The film also does a nice job of not shying away from its gay themes, presenting the content in a very mater-of-fact way which comes off as refreshing and a step forward especially for a film which stars A-list actresses despite not being a film prepped for mainstream release. Overall, The Runaways is a film with a few remarkable parts, several great parts but ultimately it is brought down by the conventional standard biopic format. The performances and look bring a surprising balance to the proceedings but its inability to develop anyone past an archetype or to replace this with anything of real substance force the film into a format it cannot break out of. However, it does make one want to learn more about The Runaways so it must have done something right.
6.3/10
The Runaways is a difficult film to review. On the one hand this could have been an extremely sugarcoated film which it is not…but in actuality it is. On the one hand one could watch this film then read one paragraph about The Runaways, walking away with the same amount of information and/or fictional understanding. On the other hand the film is so well shot, with certain scenes rising so far above the content quality of the film; it becomes difficult to figure out where to stand. In the end is it a good film? Not really. However, the look and feel of the film punctuated by specific scenes, particularly the performance ones and the lead performances by Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart are what keep this extremely basic biopic afloat.
The film starts out following Cherie Currie and Joan Jett in their separate endeavors pre-Runaways. Cherie seems lost following her sister around and performing at a talent concert lip synching to David Bowie. She gets booed offstage which she deems as a personal success both as a defense mechanism and a hope to be separated by her peers. Joan hangs out frequently with a friend doing drugs and teaching herself to play guitar. In an obvious scene, she tries to take guitar lessons which lead to her being told “girls don’t play electric guitar”. In a predictable act of defiance, Joan plugs her guitar into the amp and starts playing. Since these are essentially the only scenes that take the time to establish Joan as a character, it is unfortunate that they are so contrived.
Joan sees record producer Kim Fowley outside of a club and approaches him about the idea of an all-girl rock band. He is intrigued enough to experiment with the idea and he introduces her to Sandy Powell, a drummer and eventual co-founder of the group. Once the band is assembled Fowley decides a Bardot-like figure needs to front the group and this leads them to Cherie. The film then charts the rise and fall of the band but particularly of Currie whose descent into drugs and sex feeds her efforts to get away from her hometown and her dysfunctional family.
While Cherie’s mother leaves her and her twin sister Marie for Indonesia and her father is an alcoholic who is only getting worse, Cherie’s relationship with Marie receives the most consideration. Their relationship gets a lot of attention and the film does a nice job of letting us understand that Marie’s jealousy of Cherie and consequential lashing out are a defense mechanism and that Cherie’s refusal to take any of the responsibility that Marie carries is a resistance of what she is afraid her life will turn into. While these scenes still carry the predictability laden throughout the film, it is effective enough to be considered successful.
The performance scenes are so much better than anything else that the film quickly becomes an uneven experience. Director Floria Sigismondi creates a whirlwind of sexual energy and musical ambition with these scenes which are astounding to watch. In their first performance scene when they start their tour the scene is shot pretty conventionally. By the end the girls have pushed out the audience in their minds. There is no background and the camera is constantly spinning. These girls are officially caught up in the moment both in song and in their own hype. The scene which features “Cherry Bomb” catches Cherie at the film’s pinnacle of her self-exploitation. The scene features Cherie’s energy and focuses on her own need for attention culminating in a slow motion shot of Cherie rocking out, microphone wrapped around her leg. In addition to these scenes, Joan and Cherie’s tryst to the use of The Stooges “I Wanna Be Your Dog” is the sexiest scene in a film since George and Carlos shared a cigarette in A Single Man. Cherie’s lip-synching near the start of the film also is a standout.These scenes as well as one near the end with Cherie in a grocery store I could watch over and over and over.
Generally, The Runaways plays it too safe. While there are stirrings of risk in the film it should have gone full throttle into the mess these girls found themselves in. The film does not need to be accurate as long as it captures a general sense of the real story and it seems that everything is so inaccurate that it cannot even stand as any sort of representation of this band. The film goes further than I expected it to though, which makes it seem more confusing as to why the film stops where it does. Cherie’s exploration of sex and drugs is painfully broad and it makes her experience completely void of any specific identity. Joan’s character is essentially dropped after the first 15 minutes. While she gets a nice scene at the end, her lack of presence throughout is misleading based on her time near the beginning. Yes, this is based off of Curries’ memoir Neon Angel but it becomes an issue when the film pretends to be an examination of both people. Kristen Stewart is really great here as Joan though and she manages to bring something to every moment she is given which in the long run allows her to create an arc through her own emotive abilities. Being in a band means something completely different for her; as she states, it is her life.
The casting of Dakota Fanning is pretty brilliant. Not because of her specifically even though she is great but because of her age. Cherie is sexualized throughout the film and its appeal and subsequent discomfort would not have been present if the film had a 20 year old playing Cherie. Having a 15 year old play the 15 year old Currie is smart because it makes discomfort associated with the sexualizing of the real Currie transfers into the film due to Fanning’s youth. She is equally entrancing to watch as she truly feels like a girl in over her head; self-destructive and vulnerable.
The film also does a nice job of capturing the era. While the soundtrack is quite uninventive, there are still some great tracks to be found. While interesting, The Runaways broadening with this plunge makes it, in a way, a more mediocre film. Since it does not take the time to be making any broad statements about the decade or music or anything its immersion is somewhat unjustified. There is barely any real character development in the script and what there is appear to be lazy and obvious. The actors bring a sense of subtlety to everything and they keep the script from truly emerging as the problem it is.
While these are mostly complaints, I actually quite liked The Runaways. It is able to sustain interest throughout due to the performances and specific moments and scenes. It also it very entertaining and can easily be enjoyed by anyone looking for something to watch. The film also does a nice job of exploring the idea of an all-girl band and whether or not it is more admirable to stay true to oneself or to adapt to a “man’s world” on their terms. Kim Fowley keeps saying that they have to assert themselves as sexual creatures in order to succeed. The compromise between their talents as a band and how to present oneself is an underlying theme in the film that should have been explored more; still it is there nonetheless. The film also does a nice job of not shying away from its gay themes, presenting the content in a very mater-of-fact way which comes off as refreshing and a step forward especially for a film which stars A-list actresses despite not being a film prepped for mainstream release. Overall, The Runaways is a film with a few remarkable parts, several great parts but ultimately it is brought down by the conventional standard biopic format. The performances and look bring a surprising balance to the proceedings but its inability to develop anyone past an archetype or to replace this with anything of real substance force the film into a format it cannot break out of. However, it does make one want to learn more about The Runaways so it must have done something right.
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