“The Runaways” is advertised as being a lot of things. It is supposedly the story of the rise and fall of the first all-girl rock group. It is said to be an inspiration for young women to follow their hearts and defy the standards of society. It is allegedly a period piece, dramatizing life as a teen in California’s 1970s music scene. It is publicized as the movie where “Twilight” costars Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart share a kiss. Yet, in much the same way that the real Runaways defied their origins as an advertising gimmick of sorts, all of the previously mentioned elements play but a small role in the 2010 film, titled after the ‘70s rock band.
And that is the first misleader. Of the five members of the band, three are all but ignored and one is written as a fictional stand-in with no lines, due to a legal battle involving her real-life counterpart. Instead, attention is directed toward the personal lives of guitarist Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) and singer Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning), both of whom were in their teens when they played with the Runaways.
Currie is a bleach-blonde California girl, complete with bell-bottoms and a love of David Bowie. Her parents are divorced and her father is an alcoholic. She doesn’t fit in at school and seeks to escape her suburban hell by hanging out in dingy dance clubs. It is there that she meets the young, leather-clad Joan Jett, a female electric guitarist with a black guitar pick and her own interpretation of “On top of Old Smokey”. The two become united with the eccentric record producer, Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon) through the notion of starting an all-girl rock group. The rest of the musicians seem to materialize out of thin air and before too long the band is on the road to stardom in a station wagon stuffed with drugs, alcohol, and hormones.
Due to their popularity with “Twilight’” fans, Stewart and Fanning’s turn towards more risqué material was a guaranteed audience draw for many of the same reasons that the Runaways became a big hit. Not surprisingly, the actresses’ maturity levels appear to be leaps and bounds ahead of the media’s. I have not seen the “Twilight” films, but if Stewart’s performance as Joan Jett is overshadowed by their fame, it will truly be an infamy. She is not a great actress, but rather a great chameleon. Her body’s actions transform her into a detailed and physically perfect replica of Joan Jett, even if the script doesn’t allow for much development beyond that.
Fanning is the polar opposite of Stewart. Where Stewart appears hunched, bored, and dumbfounded when confronted with her own celebrity, Fanning glows with confidence. Her “Cherie” is not a carbon copy of the singer, but rather her own interpretation of the person who would have developed out of Cherie's life circumstances. Fanning shows wisdom by taking creative liberty with the unsubstantial material she is presented with and using it to create a relatable character.
In “The Runaways”, much attention is paid to Currie’s emotional instability when it comes to dealing with fame. She passes out repeatedly, steals drugs from her sick father, and eventually winds up folding linens in a wedding shop after leaving the band. But no amount of drugs or drama can falter Jett’s thirst for music. Even while in a hazy stupor during a party, she still manages to show a girl the correct way to strum a guitar. It is moments like these that define what “The Runaways” is all about. It is a movie about shaping your career. About creating a life based upon your passions, not on running away from your insecurities. Unfortunately, many young celebrities make decisions based upon the latter and end up destroyed by their profession. Joan Jett defied this scenario and went on to become one of the greats in her medium. I can see Fanning following in her footsteps.
