The Runaways
2010
***
Director: Floria Sigismondi
Cast: Dakota Fanning, Kristen Stewart, Stella Maeve, Scout Taylor-Compton, Michael Shannon
An entertaining biopic of the Runaways, an all-girl hard rock band who spent 15 minutes in the spotlight in the late 1970s. Michael Shannon is wonderfully flamboyant as Kim Fowley, an eccentric record producer who introduces two teenage misfits, Cherie Currie and Joan Jett, to one another and helps to shape the band. As expected, rock stardom is not all it's cracked up to be. However, this clichéd tale of sex, drug and rock n' roll is rescued by a compelling personal story about a young woman who cannot handle the hangover of fame. Based on Currie's book Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway.
