The Runaways – An E1 Films’ Release
DVD Release Date: July 20th, 2010
Rated 14A for coarse language, sexual content and substance abuse
Running time: 106 minutes
Floria Sigismondi (dir.)
Floria Sigismondi (screenplay)
Cherie Currie (book)
Lillian Bartan (music)
Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett
Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie
Michael Shannon as Kim Fowley
Stella Maeve as Sandy West
Our reviews below:
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The Runaways DVD Review By John C.
*** (out of 4)
In 1975, girls were almost forbidden to rock out on stage, and Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) had a vision to start an all-girl rock band. With the help of creepy record producer Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon), they recruited 15-year old Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning), and The Runaways were born. The performances are all good here , with Stewart’s vacant stare actually working well as her character is often under the influence. Fanning gives one of her best performances to date, acting all of her scenes with a twinge of sadness and sympathy. But it is the brilliant Shannon, as the creepy Kim Fowley, that steals every scene he’s in.
Due to the heavy drug/sexual content, the film is sometimes difficult to watch, and it may have more of a resonance if you were actually around in the ‘70’s to listen to the music. But The Runaways is ultimately a well done, gritty and believable recreation of an era and a controversal music scene, that is worth seeing for the strong performances.
The DVD includes commentary with Joan Jett, Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning, as well as a making-of featurette.
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The Runaways DVD Review By Erin V.
**3/4 (out of 4)
The Runaways is a biopic of Joan Jett and Cherie Currie, and is based on Cherie’s cautionary memoirs. Those who remember this first all girl’s rock band will be curious about this one.
Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning do a fine job as Joan Jett and Cherie Currie respectively, and Michael Shannon is quite good as the weird rock producer, Kim Fowley. I must note that this is probably the best role I’ve seen Kristen Stewart in recently, since her slightly drugged look works here.
Overall, I think that those into The Runaways and/or The Black Hearts will want to see, and ultimately enjoy, this movie. For those not as familiar with this style of music, the film is still well enough made as far as biopics go, and is paced well enough to be worth a rental. It’s not one of my favourite movies, nor style of music but even I still didn’t mind watching it.
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The Runaways DVD Review By Nicole
*** (out of 4)
The Runaways tells the true story of Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart), Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning), and the beginning of girl rock artists. Joan Jett, is a runaway girl with problems at home. Cherie Currie is a vulnerable 15-year-old, whose father is an alcoholic, and whose mother has run off to Indonesia. The troubled girls end up under the wing of Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon), who lures runaway teen girls with a promise of a record deal. The rocker girls are a huge success, especially in Japan, but struggle with alcohol and drug problems, as well as being “owned” by Fowley. Eventually, as the girls mature, they begin to stand up for themselves, and face their problems head on.
While I don’t normally listen to the kind of music that this film is about, I thought the movie was well done. It is not always easy to watch, as it does capture the grittiness of the on the road nomadic lifestyle that these rock bands experienced. The film never glorifies the abuse of drugs, or sexual experimentation that these girls went through. But the acting is good, tells the story well, and makes you feel for the many youth that still live on our streets today.
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The Runaways DVD Review By Maureen
*** (out of 4)
It’s said that every good rock and roll song has a story behind it. The same thing could be said about rock and roll bands. The Runaways is a gritty, true-to-life bio-pic about the 1975 start-up of rock singer Joan Jett’s all girl band, The Runaways.
The story follows rebellious teen runaway Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) and 15-year-old Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning) another troubled teen with an alcoholic father and disinterested mother. When the two young woman cross paths with rock and roll record producer Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon) he helps them put together an all girl rock band with underage Cherie as the lead singer and sex kitten image front. In keeping with the 1975 rock culture, Fowley knows no boundaries in using alcohol, sex or drugs to make sure The Runaways are a big success. The group experiences amazing success especially in Japan. The personal cost of success proves to be too high for now 16-year-old Cherie and the group dissolves. Joan is then motivated to focus on her own career and goes on to achieve success with her new group The Black Hearts.
While The Runaways is hard to watch at times due to substance abuse and sexual content it accurately portrays the dark sides of rock culture. It is interesting to see the origin of classic rock songs such as “Cherry Bomb,” “Crimson and Clover,” and “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Rock music history fans or Joan Jett fans will want to add The Runaways to their DVD collection. Fans of Kristen Stewart or Dakota Fanning will also find this interesting. Both young woman give strong performances. Michael Shannon is also really good as the creepy Kim Fowley. Keep in mind this is not a DVD for pre-teens even if they are fans of the lead actors.
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The Runaways DVD Review By Tony
*** (out of 4)
The Runaways was a hard/punk rock band formed in 1975 by five 15-year-old girls in southern California. Having left home, Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) put the band together with the support of producer Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon). They discovered Cherie Currie, whose blonde allure influenced by David Bowie was a perfect counterpart to Joan Jett’s hard rocking style. Though the band was musically solid, in order to break through the glass ceiling the decadent Fowley saw fit, with provocative moves and dress, to exploit the fans’ prurient interest in “jailbait”. The band did well for about two years, particularly in Japan, until, typically burned out by sex & drugs, Cherie Currie and another member left the band to clean up. Currie is now a youth counsellor, while Joan Jett is still rocking.
Based on Currie’s cautionary book and with Currie and Jett on the set as consultants, Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart have done a fine job recreating the life of the band on and off the stage, while Michael Shannon as always brilliantly dominates every scene he is in. From smoky venues to dingy backstage scenes the seedy world of 1970s bands is well reconstructed, with a great soundtrack to match. As a child of the 60s, I have had little use for The Runaways type of music, so it is a tribute to all concerned that I now have some admiration for it.
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Consensus: Due to the strong drug/sexual content, The Runaways is sometimes hard to watch, but it‘s worth seeing for the good performances and serves as an interesting recreation of an era and a music scene. *** (Out of 4)
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