esrosedotblog

HER STORY

Today's film was

The Runaways (2010)

with Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart as Cherie Currie and Joan Jett. Michael Shannon as Kim Fowley, their producer who pretty much created the act out of thin air. The first all girl rock band.

Somehow, they took an unpredictable, unique story and bent it into the familiar musical biopic arc.

Unknowns, and in Currie's case even unknown to herself, are thrown together to form a band under the guidance of a Svengali agent and take to the road. Quick success. Records. Tours. Drugs. Alienation. Burnout. Recovery. In this case, Jett who also produced this film from Curries biography, surmounts the obstacles and finishes the film with the anthem "I love rock and roll....".

That said, the arc is a pretty good one and, in this case, the performances, the music and the pace of the story outweigh the familiarity of it.

The true story as told in Wikipedia is instructively different than the film. Surprise! But probably not as interesting. The film is Currie's story and is told from her POV.

Good things. They do a lot, I mean a lot lot, of the music. They move the thing along. There isn't any foot dragging.

I liked the treatment of Jett which was not always complimentary or supportive. On the other hand the relationship between the girls is very nice to see grow and flourish.

Shocker. These were minors. Teenage kids. Finished as a band almost before they are able to drink legally.

I enjoyed it. Fun. I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5.

Image is the real Runaways.

Labels: films