Review of The Runaways (2010) by Keith M — 18 Dec 2012

I'm glad that they made a movie about the Runaways, I just wish that everyone had been involved. Instead this is the Joan Jett/Cherie Currie story. That being said, they could have made a whole Joan Jett movie, and Kristen Stewart is.

..GREAT! Finally, something that she connects with I'm guessing? Either way a solid job, she does more than justice to the role. Fanning as Currie is decent, but she's only good in the scenes where the band is performing, the rest of the time it's super cliché as she falls victim to excesses and substance abuse (which Currie did in real life, but they could have done better with it here).

Michael Shannon is solid and creepy as producer Kim Fowley, and probably is very close to what Fowley was really like. Unfortunately, that's all, since Lita Ford wouldn't allow anything more than her name to be used (the actress playing her is a dead ringer, and would have loved to see more of her story), Sandy West only gets a minor bit, but more than Ford, though it would have been nice to flesh that out more, seeing as how West died in real life before this came out.

Jackie Fox (bassist) refused to participate so that's why the bassist is simply a stand in, even though the actress (Alia Shawkat) is very talented and I've seen her do way more in other films.

It's good, but it could have been much better. What it did make me want is a Joan Jett biopic with Stewart returning to the role. THAT would rock.