A Hollywood music producer finds a couple of talented teens, puts them together, and sends them out on tour to their own demise… Kinda sounds like it could be the Britney or Justin Bieber story- or some other post-Disney teen heartthrob. But The Runaways takes place over 30 years ago. Just goes to show that teen exploitation in the music biz is nothing new.
The biopic of The Runaways’ career is a frantic, cut-driven glance at the story from a mile above. It’s the story of a teenaged Joan Jett and the band that eventually forms around her and drummer Sandy West after they are put together by producer Kim Fowly. Jett is a r
ebellious teen who tries to emulate her hero Suzi Quatro, and is intorduced to Sandy West outside an LA nightclub by Fowly. The addition of Currie by Fowly later completes the all-girl band, they begin touring and recording, and eventually become stars. After the formation of the band, the story really focuses on Currie, and her progression from a Bowie-obsessed unpopular little girl, to a drug addicted teen star positioned by Fowly as a jail-bait sex kitten.
As you might expect of an all-teen, all-girl rock band in the mid-seventies, there would be plenty of drama with five girls on tour, but little time is given to explore this period. Instead, the film focuses on Currie, and her relationships with Jett and the Currie family- a self-centered movie star wannabe mother, an alcoholic father, and a sister (in real life, the Currie girls were identical twins- a fact eluded to in one line in the film, but the sisters are played by different actresses in the movie). When I say the “focus” of the movie is on Currie, it’s an overstatement- there’s not much focus in it at all. Characters are given little development, and plot points are flung at you in MTV montage style in order to jam the whole story of a band formation, rise to stardom, struggles, and eventual demise into 110 minutes.
Kristen Stewart fills the role of Joan Jett with applicable poutiness and brooding, but that’s nothing new for her. It was distracting watching the 16 year-old Joan Jett in the form of a 20 year-old Bella. I would be surprised if she ever expands this range. Dakota Fanning puts in a great performance as Cherie Currie, giving us a glimpse of what may yet come of the child star. As the central role in the movie, she has the most time to develop her character, and does an apt job of showing her progression from innocence to star, sex symbol, drug addict, and back. Another standout in the film is Michael Shannon as the charismatic and somewhat monstrous Kim Fowly. The producer’s antics that help build the band’s stage presence are played pretty over the top, but perhaps that’s what it took to mold the young girls into a stage-ready band.
Overall, the movie is entertaining, and gives us a look back into Rock and Roll history, but it gets muddled with too many themes crammed into too little time. As a note: this movie is rated R, and is definitely NOT for your teen. I give it a 2 out 5, wait for it on DVD and watch it on a rainy weekend.
Apparently, this week is festival week in the ATL- there’s 420 Fest in Candler Park, Doogwood Festival at Piedmont Park, and Freaknik going on illicitly at various mansions and underground clubs whereever they feel like. While this would seem like a music-lover’s dream, it’s quite the opposite. Heavy traffic, unregulated parking, overpriced food and beverages and generally poor facilites promise to make most of midtown a nightmare. I’m gonna stay home, put the playlist on ‘random’ and avoid the whole freakin’ mess.
WordPress is telling me this is the 211th post in the Friday Mixtape category- officially a full 4 years worth of the Friday Mixtape. Technically, I’ve missed a week here or there, so volume 410 would have been the 4th full year. Anyway, just something I noticed while prepping today mix, which is below. Please enjoy, pollen-free!
