The Runaways (2010)
Content by Tony Macklin. Originally published on April 2, 2010 @ tonymacklin.net.
The Runaways is not a potent cherry bomb. It's more a sputtering candle.
While not quite a dud, it's not the movie it should be. It's a packaged cake with vanilla icing and a Cherie on top. A maraschino Cherie, at that.
Based on the book Neon Angel, by lead singer Cherie Currie, The Runaways is the patchwork story of the making and breaking of the teenage all-girl rock band in the 1970s.
The band was a fresh concept; the movie is about as fresh as a Lifetime Special. Instead of being dressed in black leather, it's dressed in faux leather.
The major problem can be traced to music video director Floria Sigismondi, who is directing and screenwriting her first feature. She's a stylist, but has little grasp on dramatic arc or motivation.
Fortunately she is served well by two of her cast members. Kristen Stewart (Twilight) is credible as the raven-haired Joan Jett. [You can see the actual Jett in a strong performance in Light of Day, 1987.]
And Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road, 2008) is effectively crude and noxious as music producer Kim Fowley.
Unfortunately, Sigismondi is not well served by Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie. Dakota was an engaging marvel as a child star -- mesmerizing and delightful.
But she's basically bland as Cherie. She's too often a cipher. Her doe eyes do not have teen spirit. She has a difficult role because her character is caught between innocence and experience, between image and family. Dakota is not able to handle the range of these elements.
She has no chemistry with Stewart as Jett, even though they share a kiss that is supposed to be dramatic.
There are few if any memorable scenes. Perhaps the most memorable is an early scene of 10th grader Cherie on stage at a school talent show lip-synching to David Bowie.
Both Cherie and Jett have posters of Bowie on their walls, but it's not a good idea for this movie to remind us of Bowie's artistry, since it badly suffers in comparison.
The Runaways is Cherie bomb unplugged.
