Review by April Smallwood
What’s it about?
The real-life story of the band The Runaways is an impressive one. Five lively female teens sought to rock the male-dominated music world by wielding electric guitars and screaming suggestive lyrics that told men: “Hey, you! We’re women. Be afraid”. I have an inkling these ladies paved the way for every female rocker that’s hit the scene since.
April’s take
Dakota Fanning plays sex-bomb lead singer Cherie Currie. If you’ve seen Charlotte’s Web, this movie will disturb you to say the least. Audiences will struggle to shake the memory of a cherub-faced Dakota from her breakthrough role as a seven-year-old in I Am Sam.
In The Runaways, almost a decade later, gone are those unbearably cute doe eyes. Prepare to see Dakota, as Currie, thrusting her crotch at audiences, strutting around in raunchy lingerie and snorting obscene amounts of cocaine in an airplane bathroom. As a child, Dakota seemed freakishly mature – “precocious” is the word critics favoured most – but, here, she seems to lack the life experience needed to play the role of Currie.
Sadly, the band lasted four years, calling it quits in 1979 after successfully touring the US and Japan. Rhythm guitarist Joan Jett went on to create her own band, 'Joan Jett and the Blackhearts', which you probably recall doing a rad cover of “I love Rock ‘N’ Roll” (far superior to Britney’s version). In the film, Joan is played by Bella Swan, I mean Kristen Stewart, and I think she does a good job. From what I can gather from various interviews she has done, K-Stew seems to be a little guarded, offbeat, edgy and even sings and plays guitar -- just like Jett.
Should you watch it?
One of my gripes with The Runaways is that the story isn’t compelling enough to warrant a 106-minute film. Its greatness lies in its potential to inspire young women everywhere. The feminist message being that you can be and achieve whatever the hell you want – men ain’t got nothin on you. It also reveals how the rockstar life lacks the glamour many perceive it to have. The band’s manager, Kim Fowley (played brilliantly OTT by Michael Shannon), is reason enough to watch this.
Outta 10?
A rockin’ six.