The Runaways

[That-Guy]

I wasn't all that interested in this movie, but the positive buzz and the trailer have me intrigued. I haven't been a fan of Stewart in anything else, but apparently Joan Jett loved her performance, and that's about the best praise an actor can get when portraying a real life person.

 

[ross2287]

Kristen talking about the movie.

http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie-...-86e6-883063a74c6d&from=en-us_msnhp&Gt1=42007

 

[cronosred]

I wasn't all that interested in this movie, but the positive buzz and the trailer have me intrigued. I haven't been a fan of Stewart in anything else, but apparently Joan Jett loved her performance, and that's about the best praise an actor can get when portraying a real life person.

Have you seen The Cake Eaters? I thought she was great in that film.

 

[Darkness Falls]

can't wait to see this

 

[TNC9852002]

It's gonna be uncomfortable watching Dakota Fanning in such provocative digs..

 

[Wolfwood]

So who has seen this fantastic movie yet? I absolutely loved it. I was pleasantly surprised by Stewart's performance as the great Joan Jet. I, at first, was quite biased against her. I had written her off as an actress after her abysmal portrayal as Bella in the Twilight series. However, here she proves that she does have some acting chops on her. Though I was disappointed by the lack of focus on the other band members. The movie is called the Runaways, I would've liked some attention given to them as well rather then have them as pretty faces in the background. For crying out loud, the girl who plays Maybe didn't even have one line. I know Joan and Cherie were the most crucial characters in the story, but I would've liked something more encompassing.

 

[Matt Mortem]

I'm looking forward to seeing this. Looks interesting

 

[Heretic]

Just saw this...

I can admit when I'm wrong...and when I said that Kristen Stewart was a bad pick for the role, I was most definitely wrong.

The movie isn't great (much like the band itself) but there were some good performances in it which lifted it above where it really should be.

I knew the movie was basically the story of Cherie and Joan, since it's based on a book written by Cherie and you knew that she was going to talk up how great of friends she was with a rock legend...but the reality is that Cherie was always the least important person in the band (except for the bassist, because they couldn't keep one).

It takes liberties with history and it would have been nice to have seen more focus on Lita Ford, who went on to have a successful career (while Cherie was all but forgotten until this movie was made). Overall though...not a bad movie.

 

[Angel_Faerie]

I'm sad this movie isn't playing anywhere near where I live.

 

[Heretic]

I think my biggest issue is that it's clearly the point of view of Cherie Curry.

SPOILERS (odd, considering it's based on a true story)

In the movie, she quits The Runaways because she's sick of the lifestyle and wanted to live a normal life with her family and she didn't want to deal to Kim Fowley anymore.

In reality, she really did have an ego issue and think that she was the star of the band, even though she offered nothing creatively. She quit the band and recorded a solo cd WITH Kim Fowley and then recorded a second cd with her sister. She was bombing pretty bad without her more talented band members, so she ended up as an actress and got some work here and there.

Of course, the movie is based on Cherie Currie's version of events, so obviously she was going to be put in a better light than she should have been, while the lead guitarist, who went on to solo fame and fortune, was given about 4 lines of dialog and no character traits aside from being mean and resentful.

 

[TheFuture]

I didn't think much of this film to be honest, the story seemed really rushed and the characters were under developed. You just don't care for any of them, except for maybe Jett.

 

[Mister J]

It turned out to be little more than a fluff piece; barely touching on anything. I saw more of a compelling story through varied documentaries. Of course, being based on Cherie's book and with only her and Joan really involved, it's not hard to see why the end result was what it was.

 

[That-Guy]

I liked the movie for the most part, though I don't know how closely it stuck to the truth (though from the comments above, I guess not much).

The one thing I kind of hated was how Lita Ford pretty much got the shaft in the movie. Perhaps she did nothing but act like a b**ch 24/7, but I'm guessing that was just Curie's perception of her. And I think they should have given her at least a LITTLE more screentime and depth, considering that she became a pretty big star in her own right for a while. Plus, it would have given me more time to stare at Scout-Taylor Compton.

One of my other issues was Alia Shawkat's character. Granted, The Runaways didn't actually have a regular bass player, so giving the fictional character in the cast minimal screentime makes sense. But my question is, why cast a worthy actress like Shawkat? She's far too talented to appear in a role where she literally does nothing. I don't think she has one line in the movie... hell, I don't even think the camera FOCUSES on her. I wonder why she signed on to such a crappy part.

 

[DACrowe]

I saw this movie a few weeks ago....It's really FREAKING GOOD.

It is somewhat formulaic for a rock band biopic (they form, struggle, get famous, start using drugs, break-up, ultimately find themselves afterwards)....but that is what happened and it was well done.

What made this film uniquely interesting is that it studied the relationship between art and commerce. It gave a curious look into the the actual business side of rock 'n roll and the emphasis being just as much on style and look than substance. But it is not necessarily judgemental. After all, without Kim Fowley's brilliant idea of making money off an all-girl jailbait band, there would have been no Runaways.

I appreciate a more nuanced exploration of this theme than "corporate interests=bad." While he pushed Cherie Currie, he did not get her addicted to drugs that caused them to fizzle out. And instead he got them to that place you need to be to really rock. Sadly it destroyed her.

But the happy coincidence is that the all-girl band he formed was actually really ****ing good. Cherie, Joan, Sandy, and Lita Ford were all supremely talented.

My only complaint about the movie is that it was a little too focused on just Cherie and Joan. Lita Ford barely registered at all in this film. But otherwise it was a visually crisp fast moving film that I thought felt authentic. From the shot of Joan Jett running in leather pants down the sidwalk to Cherie dressing up like David Bowie for a high school talent show and flicking all her classmates off...it just rocked in a fun way.

Both Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart were quite good in this--and I had my doubts. But Stewart was completely believable as Jett, especially in her last two scenes when she goes solo. But Fanning really shined as the troubled Cherry Bomb.

Lastly, I would say though, the best part of this movie was Michael Shannon as Fowley. He literally stole every scene he was in. While the film could a bit cookie cutter at times in pacing and storytelling, the scene where he teaches Cherie how to sing rock 'n roll is incredibly awesome I thought. "Rock 'n roll is about *********ors saying **** you authority, **** you dad, I want an orgasm!"

Easy 8/10 and probably in my top 5 or 10 of hte year thus far. Very easily.

 

[DACrowe]

I would also add that I thought it was ironic that the songs they ended the film on were Joan's (superior) cover of "Crimson and Clover" and "Bad Reputation."

The Runaways had a few more great songs than just "Cherry Bomb" and "I Like Playing with Fire," but I guess since Jett's singles were more famous, them the breaks. Oh well.