The Runaways was the first all-girl rock
and roll band in the 1970s. They emerged in an era where men ruled rock and roll
and disco was the rage. Their angry punk girl attitude along with great
songs and good stage presence made the Runaways unforgettable to all who watched them.
THE RUNAWAYS film focuses on Joan Jett
and Cherrie Currie. It doesn’t dwell too deep into their lives. It shows the surface of what was going on. The film
glances over the other members who are mostly like background extras. Kristen
Stewart pulls off more acting as Joan Jett than she ever did as Bella Swann. However,
the scene stealers of the movie are Michael Shannon as eccentric rock and roll producer Kim Fowley and Dakota Fanning as Cherrie
Currie. The production design and costume design make you feel like you’re
in the 1970s. THE RUNAWAYS is an excellently directed film, but I wish
the script went deeper into who the band was instead of painting them as icons (and showing Cherrie had problems). THE RUNAWAYS could have been longer and more developed.
100 minutes is too short for the story of this band and what happens.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The audio commentary for the film is with
Joan Jett, Kristen Stewart, and Dakota Fanning. Joan Jett was on the set
every day. Joan says what parts of the film aren’t true while reflecting
what did happen
PLUGGED IN: MAKING THE FILM- a fifteen minute featurette about the film’s production down to what the actors did to become
the characters (they rehearsed for two weeks as a band and Kristen Stewart learned how to play the songs on the guitar) to
production design
THE RUNAWAYS- a two minute promo featurette about the group and the film
Both featurette has interviews with the
three big actors, the producer, the writer/director of the film, and Cherrie Curry.
FINAL ANALYSIS: THE RUNAWAYS is an enjoyable surface experience which I wish had more depth.
This DVD review is ©7-22-2010 David
Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com
