The Runaways

26.05.2010

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The rebel queens of the legendary girl band “The Runaways” become rock stars as 15-year-olds with all that entails of ups and downs. This is a fresh drama with lots of good music, but as a biography the film lacks depth.

Plot
1975: Joan and Cherie are two very different teenagers. Joan uses all her savings to buy a cool leather jacket and dreams of playing electric guitar. Cherie looks like a mix between David Bowie and Brigitte Bardot, and she wants anything but playing the role of a flirtatious overly sweet girl. The two are different in appearance and style, but there is no doubt that they are both rebels.

Joan seeks out the somewhat weird record producer Kim Fowley, who likes the idea of starting a girl rock band. He gives Joan a chance to prove herself and when they find Cherie at a nightclub, they both know that they have found the perfect front for the band. They find three other girls and begin to rehearse in an old caravan outside the city.

Kim shapes the girls into real rebel queens, and the band plays deliberately on sex, violence, rebellion and a raw sound to get attention. The girls are a great success, touring throughout the U.S. and Japan. But fame comes with a price. The girls are drawn into a life where drugs, sexual experimentation and an unstable lifestyle become ordinary living. The relationship between Joan and Cherie is put to the test at the same time as their private life becomes hard to handle.

Quality and Theme
”The Runaways” is first and foremost a film for those who like rock music, especially the glam and punk rock that emerged during the 1970s. You get a good feel of the mood that prevailed at the time, and what lay behind what is now considered to be legendary rock music. Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart make solid performances, creating believable character descriptions of two girls who go from being insecure teenagers to becoming troublesome stars in a very short space of time. The film offers a number of great songs and concert scenes, and it may be worth seeing the film just for these memorable moments.

As a drama, however, the film has several weaknesses. Not enough time is used to provide a real insight into the development of the relationship between Joan and Cherie. Sometimes they are friends, they engage in sexual activity with each other and still at other times they are hostile towards each other. We do not get a deeper understanding of what is going on between them, or what really ties them together. Meanwhile, the other girls in the band are not much more than extras. It is obvious that the filmmakers have simplified the representation of the band's history. An example of this is the guitarist Lita Ford, who has such a small part in the film that you barely get an impression of her. It is clear that Lita and Cherie have an increasingly bad relationship, but we never get to know that Lita is a great guitar talent that is behind the band’s strong guitar solos.

Suitability
The film has a 15 year age limit, and we recommend that no children under this age watch the film. Several scenes show the use of drugs, alcohol and sexual content. The language is also anything but refined. The film provides a good insight into the fact that the life of a rock star is far from glamorous, and teenagers are mature enough to get a little wake-up call when they see this film.

Conclusion
"The Runaways" provides a good description of the music and the atmosphere surrounding one of history's most important girl rock bands, but the film does not succeed in creating a deeper understanding of the people who were part of this. Those who like the music will enjoy themselves, while others may wonder what the point of the film is.

Facts

Director: Floria Sigismondi Genre: Drama, Music Actors: Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Scout Taylor Compton, Tatum O'Neal, Michael Shannon and more Nationality: USA Production Company: Apparition, River Road Entertainment, Linson Entertainment Length: 1h 46mins Production Year: 2010 Age limit: 15 Suitability: Young people/adults BBFC’s Consumer Advice: Contains strong language, strong sex and sex references and drug use.