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Jul 19, 2010 Web Exclusive By Frank Valish

No matter how you feel about some of the more controversial aspects of the film—Lita Ford's distancing herself from it, the demonizing of svengali Kim Fowley—The Runaways is a riveting portrayal of Joan Jett and Cherrie Currie's coming of age in rock and roll. As many before have acknowledged, the movie is not a documentary, rather a dramatization of Currie's autobiography, and the scenes largely revolve around Jett, Currie, and their personal struggle in (and in Currie's case also out of) the band. Currie, played brilliantly by the 16-year-old Dakota Fanning, comes from a broken home and is launched to fame, selling not only all-girl rock and roll, but also jailbait sexuality. Jett, played by Kristen Stewart, is the firebrand punk with rock and roll dreams, and the movie shows how these girls come together not just in music but more importantly in friendship and camaraderie. Fowley, played by the wonderfully over-the-top Michael Shannon, guides the girls and ultimately watches them self-destruct.

Director Floria Sigismondi turns the story into something more than rock and roll or teenage sex and drug use. It gets to the heart of the people behind the characters, Jett's daring ambition, Currie's damaged psyche, and the ultimate bond the two share to make it through to the other side, which in Jett's case was selling millions of records with The Blackhearts, and in Currie's case was quitting the band and returning to some semblance of normalcy. Some of the more salacious aspects of the story are toned down, and one gets the sense that the hints of bisexuality in Jett and Currie's relationship are played up for dramatic effect. But the film works on several levels, both as a rock and roll adaptation and a coming of age story. The bonus commentary by Stewart, Fanning, and Jett is revealing in that it presents more of Jett's side of The Runaways' story and helps the viewer distinguish what was poetic license and what was true to life, thus providing more of a balanced look at a story that was essentially an adaptation of Currie's personal account. Now, if we could have had commentaries from Fowley and Ford as well, that would have been truly something. (www.runawaysmovie.com)

Author rating: 6/10