Girls rock the screen in biopic ‘The Runaways’
I’ve been a fan of what I think of as angry-girl music since
high school. Some of the artists I would say fall into the category
include Tori Amos, Ani DiFranco, Fiona Apple, and in a more mild
form, Tegan and Sara. But it wasn’t until I watched
”
The Runaways
”
this weekend that I really understood that there was a time in
music history when female musicians weren’t allowed to have an
edge.
Girls rock the screen in biopic ‘The Runaways’
I’ve been a fan of what I think of as angry-girl music since high school. Some of the artists I would say fall into the category include Tori Amos, Ani DiFranco, Fiona Apple, and in a more mild form, Tegan and Sara. But it wasn’t until I watched “The Runaways” this weekend that I really understood that there was a time in music history when female musicians weren’t allowed to have an edge.
Most people probably know the classic songs by Joan Jett, such as “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” and “Bad Reputation,” but I at least had never heard about the music of the Runaways until buzz about the movie started up.
The Runaways, formed in 1975, are credited in the film as being the first all-girl rock band. The members of the band include a teenage Joan Jett and a young Cherie Currie. Three other band mates play second fiddle to the two leads. The screenplay is based on an autobiography by Currie, so it’s not surprising that the movie focuses on her turmoil during the time she was with the band.
Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) wants to play electric guitar and start an all-girl band. She enlists the help of Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon), a record producer who is gruff and nasty. He connects her with other female musicians and they start rehearsing in a trailer in the San Fernando Valley. Kim begins scouting for a female lead singer and he is more interested in her looks than her talent. He spots 15-year-old Cherie (Dakota Fanning) at a Hollywood nightclub and invites her to audition.
The screenplay was adapted and directed by Floria Sigismondi, whose background is working with music videos. She directed “Best of Bowie,” “The Very Best of Sheryl Crow: The Videos,” and “Lest We Forget: The Video Collection.” Most of the movie is shot in a straight forward narrative, but there are a few sequences in the film that fall into the artsy world of videos, for better or for worse. The timeframe in the movie is not really clear, either, and it makes it seem as though Cherie walks out on the band as they are recording their first album when in reality Currie recorded three albums with the group. The best part of the movie is the music in it, with its hard-hitting rock sound.
Of everyone in the cast, Fanning is the clear standout. It is partly because she has the most screen time and partly because she is a more versatile actress than Stewart, who has the second-most time on screen. Stewart broods her way through the movie much the way she did in “Twilight.”
Fanning does a good job of portraying Cherie as a tough kid, who is really more vulnerable and naïve than she wants people to know. She has an absentee mother who leaves her and her sister Marie (Riley Keough – Elvis’ granddaughter) behind to live with their alcoholic father, senile grandmother and an aunt. It’s no wonder Cherie is drawn to the band as an alternative to living at home.
The rest of the film follows the band’s rise to fame, as they tour the United States and fall into the habit of using alcohol, uppers and downers. The teenagers became popular for such hits as “Cherry Bomb” and “I Want to be Where the Boys Are.”
The drama really starts for the band mates when they are on their Japanese tour, where they are greeted with Beatle-mania-like fans. Some of the band members are jealous that Cherie is getting all the press and cover photos in magazines or newspapers. Some of the band mates are ticked off when Cherie starts taking the stage in lingerie, which they think distracts from the focus on the music. Another complication is Cherie’s alcoholic father falling ill while she is on tour. When the group returns to the United States, Cherie has a nervous breakdown fueled by the alcohol and drugs. She leaves the group, which eventually disbands in 1979.
The movie ends on a somewhat misleading positive note. Cherie is working in a wedding cake bakery when she hears “I Love Rock ‘n Roll,” on the radio. The song is by her former band mate Joan Jett and Jett’s new band the Blackhearts. Cherie calls up just to say hello and says she is getting her life back together. Jett continued to record music for years, but Cherie struggled with addiction long after the ’70s ended. The film is worth a watch for anyone interested in rock ‘n roll history or the all-girl bands that came after.
Melissa Flores can be reached at
mf*****@pi**********.com
. She writes a blog at http://melissa-movielines.blogspot.com.
