Review of The Runaways (2010) by Amanda C — 22 Mar 2012

Dakota Fanning is, in the words of Vince Vaughn's character from Swingers, "all growns up." In The Runaways she is sexy, funny, compelling, and lost in a sea of drug-addled discontent. Kristen Stewart has moments when she rages her way into an attention-grabbing moment or two, but overall, the Twilight girl's dead face and eyes once again fail to provide any insight into her character. Michael Shannon is a strong actor normally, but much of his performance here is over-the-top.

This film's weakness is the script. Why tell the story of The Runaways? What is it about this band that should compel our interest? The film can't retreat to the concept that The Runaways was the first all-female band because much of the film is spent convincing these vixens that they should be male or male fantasies. What could be compelling about a female band that made its fame kow-towing to androcentric culture? This criticism is even more poignant when we take into account the fact that our heroes follow the same trajectory as many of their male counterparts, making this the feminine version of an old story.

Overall, though Fanning's performance is quite fun to watch - almost like what it must have been like to first see Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver - the film's storyline and subject needs an angle, something new to add to the conversation.