queens of noise

The Runaways is an uneven but stylishly directed film (helmed by the creative music video auteur Floria Sigismondi) about the all-girl American rock band that spawned a few minor hits and helped propel Joan Jett's (Kristin Stewart) career. The film focuses most on lead singer Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning) and less on Jett and the other members. A music lover of all types and a wannabe David Bowie, Currie is approached by Jett and record producer Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon) in an L.A. club to be the band's lead singer based solely on her looks (Brigitte Bardot-ish) and her style. The Runaways are portrayed as a ragtag group of passionate talents who are oft-discriminated against in the male-dominated world of rock and punk. Fifteen year old Cherie is the group's outsider for her inability to play an instrument or sing (she can barely gets through Peggy Lee's "Fever"). Fowley quickly molds her into a growling, rebellious sex kitten in skimpy attire and glittery platforms. It's in the performance pieces that Fanning (uncannily similar in appearance to the real Cherie) and director Sigismondi are at their best. Otherwise the film lacks an emotional resonance, despite Currie's sad downward spiral into addiction. It seems Sigismondi should have taken more cues from Paul Thomas Anderson's wildly kinetic Boogie Nights (an obvious influence), a similar story set in a similar era with a no-talent at the center who is unethically groomed into a star. While the sets and costuming look great, the script unfortunately isn't very compelling. Most of the scenes concerning Cherie and her upbringing are too slowly paced and the acting ranges from sudden histrionics to down-gazing and muttering. The camerawork is at times too obviously disorienting. Stewart, who is known most for her awkward and dour disposition in the Twilight series, is surprisingly quite good in the film, taking on Jett's mannerisms and look to a tee. Once we watch her (in the film's final act) in moments of inspiration that led to her beloved debut album, the film suddenly has a jolt of life. It's a wonderful characterization and one that the film could have used more of.  **1/2

-Jeffery Berg