‘The Runaways’ gets down and dirty
Floria Sigismondi wasn’t asked to make a documentary about The Runaways, so it’s understood that she would take some liberties and gloss over a few details.
A few.
What’s ultimately most frustrating about «The Runaways» is that, at 101 minutes, you leave unsure of whether the film’s focal point, lead singer Cherie Currie, was in the band for two years or two months, or whether she even recorded a thing.
It’s too bad because the director had a great cast in place to bring Ms. Currie’s book, «Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway,» to the screen.
Although the group is not a household name, like such disciples as the Go-Go’s and Bangles, it is worthy subject matter for a biopic, having broken the glass ceiling for female rock bands in the mid-’70s heyday of David Bowie, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd and the like.
«The Runaways» follows the trajectory of the typical music biopic. There’s a thrilling first hour or so when the artist rockets to stardom, usually from nothing, and then it all goes sour when the fame, drugs, ego and/or money kick in. (Basically, if you’re a star with a rise but no precipitous fall, kiss your biopic goodbye.)
The group was the brainchild of teenage rocker Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) and flamboyant Svengali Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon), who recognized, at the birth of punk, the novelty of a girl band that could kick it like guys. With the core group pretty much in place — Lita Ford (Scout Taylor-Compton), Sandy West (Stella Maeve) and bassist Jackie Fox, who is unnamed (Alia Shawkat) — Fowley wanted a blonde bombshell to front the Runaways despite the fact that he already had a great singer in Jett.
Enter Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning), a regular at all-ages club the Sugar Shack, whose prior musical experience consisted of lip-synching to David Bowie in her high school talent show. Much to Lita’s dismay, Cherie’s plucked for her looks and when she shows up at the manager’s trashy trailer to audition with Peggy Lee’s «Fever,» they wince and quickly write «Cherry Bomb,» their only hit, for her to sing.
The trailer becomes a boot camp run for Fowley, who looks like a cross between David Bowie and Lurch, to beat the Runaways into shape with endless combinations of the word «dog» and some type of expletive. He’s a sexist pig, and yet he’s right in a way. Rock ‘n’ roll, he tells them, is a «bloodsport» and a man’s game, and if they can’t play it tough, they won’t survive. He actually recruits kids to throw garbage and debris at them while they practice. «This is not about women’s lib,» he screams at them. «It’s about women’s libido!» All the while, he’s robbing them blind.
«The Runaways» is based on «Neon Angel,» and neither Lita nor bassist Jackie Fox sold their life rights, so we don’t get five converging story lines. But we do get one and a half. Joan is depicted buying her black leather gear and ditching a guitar lesson from a stuffy old guy who tells her «girls don’t play electric guitars.» For the most part, the movie is centered around Cherie’s bond (partly sexual) with Joan, her troubled family life — drunk dad, fleeing mom, resentful twin sister — and rough ride as a Runaway.
The pressure of being a sex kitten in the spotlight quickly becomes too much for a 15-year-old, and the ready access to drugs leads to a breakdown. For the second half of the film, our cherry bomb turns into a zombie, and the movie flatlines right with her.
Having come from the music video realm, the director lingers over the debauchery with a bold visual style and a good feel for the era. Songs by the Stooges, Bowie and Lou Reed help pump up volume and the energy. What’s lost in this alternately gritty and sun-streaked mood piece is the band’s actual history. Cherie cut two albums and ventured out on multiple tours with the band before blowing up at a photo shoot — not a studio session as depicted. A few horrific details about her life before and after the Runaways are left untouched. When Cherie left, Joan fronted the band for two more years, whereas the movie makes it appear that her solo career took off immediately.
The cast was in place for something more sweeping, ambitious and true to life. Ms. Fanning captures the naivete and fragility of Cherie (pronounced «Sha-REE»), who goes from not wanting to sing a certain sexual line in «Cherry Bomb» to ultimately performing it in a corset. «Twilight» star Ms. Stewart embodies the tougher Joan, who has rock ‘n’ roll coursing in her bloodstream, and Mr. Shannon makes the abusive Fowley as fun as he is offensive.
«The Runaways» rocks along at a swift pace, and what’s there is powerful enough to have warranted another 20 minutes to tell a more complete story.
Opens today at Cinemark Robinson, AMC-Loews and Manor Theater.
Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+ , our members-only web site. You’ll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.
Source: