THE RUNAWAYS review

In spirit, the notion of casting a bunch of teen horror and "Twilight Saga" actresses as the real-life members of the short lived but integral punk band The Runaways makes perfect sense. Just as these people want to prove that there's more to them than the popular cage the world and the media has cast them in, so too did the members of The Runaways want to throw off the shackles of perception that girls cannot rock. Hence, Kristen Stewart (of "Twilight Saga" fame) plays Joan Jett, Scout Taylor-Compton (from Rob Zombie's "Halloween" films) plays Lita Ford, and a solidly teenaged Dakota Fanning (of numerous Dakota Fanning movies, and at least one "Twilight Saga" outing) is Cherie Currie. They swear, spit, take drugs, have sex, and wallow in the squalor that was the early age of the West Coast punk scene, circa 1975. And yes, they do indeed rock. But as far as rock n' roll biopics go, "The Runaways" is not the cherry bomb it sets out to be.

Blame the lack of focus and uncertain direction. After primarily following Stewart's Jett for the early portion of the film, the focus of the story then shifts to Fanning's Currie, where it almost by accident settles for the remainder of the duration. Fittingly, the film's story is based upon Currie's book "Neon Angel: The Cherie Currie Story" - but not to be outdone, Joan Jett is credited as an executive producer. Director Floria Sigismondi maintains a consistent if flat atmosphere until the point in the story when the girls get signed to Mercury Records, and then things get sloppy, introducing intrusive graphics and occasional ineffectual symbolism. At one point, there is even a time-condensing headlines rise-to-fame montage, right out of "That Thing You Do!". "The Runaways" can and should evoke many things, but Tom Hanks movies should not be one of them.

The film never becomes more symbolically poignant that it's opening shot of menstrual blood hitting the pavement - a confrontational metaphor for female coming of age in the gritty and hardened world of rock n' roll. But by this point in the seventies, rock had been through a whirlwind of protopunk aggression punctuated with a solid dose of androgyny. This is the rift that would result in the 1970s rock divide, resulting in the vapid disco scene on one extreme, and the aggressive punk rock movement on the other. The west coast point of view of the punk scene is the world of this film, although the androgyny of what immediately musically preceded The Runaways is also felt. This is seen most obviously by Currie's love of David Bowie's music, but also in the way the world relates to The Runaways, and how they relate to each other.

Although the talented Kristen Stewart gets considerable screen time, Jett still comes off as an underdeveloped character. "The Runaways" is, seemingly by default, the Cherie Currie story, with the skilled Fanning's take on the under-aged singing sex bomb as the true focus. Currie is portrayed effectively as a girly girl at heart with a rebellious streak - something that is ceased upon for all it's worth by sleazy punk rock mover and shaker Kim Fowley, memorably played by Michael Shannon. The depiction of their collaborative inception of the band's signature song, "Cherry Bomb" - never a runaway pop culture hit in and of itself - is treated with the kind of dualistic matter-of-fact reverence that we see when Reese Witherspoon writes "Ring of Fire" in "Walk the Line". Currie's inability to say no to anyone or anything contributes generously to both the success and demise of the band. Unfortunately director Sigismondi is also unable to say no to any idea, and can never wrestle the meandering story into a cohesive but grungy box. She clearly can't decide whether to directorially embrace the apathetic spirit of punk, or actually be a filmmaker. In the end, "The Runaways" is a notable effort but too much of a mess - and not in a good way. That is to say, it's not the kind of punk rock mess that is wants to be.

- Jim Tudor