SXSW 2010 Review: THE RUNAWAYS
Rating: 6/10
Writer: Floria Sigismondi
Director: Floria Sigismondi
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Michael Shannon
When it comes to music biopics, audiences are normally treated to the standard fare. Early on there’s a desire from within to be an artist which manifests itself as frustration. Then, there’s the big break and the subsequent fame. And, inevitably, there is the fall from grace where our hero is faced with drug addiction, a fractured love life, and nowhere to go. THE RUNAWAYS doesn’t break from this mold, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
THE RUNAWAYS chronicles the rise (and subsequent demise) of Joan Jett and Cherie Currie’s musical group– The Runaways. Joan is an angsty teen who wants to fight back and challenge the system. She’s a woman, and according to everyone else in the time period, women don’t rock. Cherie is a trying to find her place, both in the world and in her own family. Her mother is selfishly moving to New Zealand and her father is an alcoholic in denial. Is there any better point in the lives of these two young girls to start a rock band?
The film has Floria Sigismondi at the helm, whose previous work is devoid of any feature films. It shows occasionally, specifically the first act of the film where we are being introduced to Joan and Cherie, which feels extremely rushed. It almost feels as though we’re watching a part of the story that Sigismondi didn’t want to tell. She expects her audience already be invested in these characters and doesn’t spend much time constructing their attributes on screen.
The two characters, Joan and Cherie, are portrayed by two of Hollywood’s biggest young actresses. The first, Joan, is played by Kristen Stewart whose TWILIGHT fame smears her record as far as talent is concerned. While this isn’t a career making performance, it’s certainly her best work to date.
And yet, there is a significant portion of the film where she’s simply playing dress up and refuses to emotionally invest herself in the character. This portion comes at a time when Fanning takes center stage and the narrative surrounds Cherie rather than Jett, so her twenty minutes of hollow performing doesn’t have a significant effect on the film.
However, Stewart pales in comparison to Fanning who embodies her character quite fully. She lives and breathes on screen, commanding the audience’s attention. This all comes as quite a surprise, as Fanning is remembered by most of us as the sweet little girl from I AM SAM and UPTOWN GIRL. This serves as her best performance yet, which is actually saying something.
Though the film doesn’t subvert any expectations or change the genre in anyway, it certainly doesn’t have to. It’s a decently entertaining film, with the only exception being that slow start. It’ll be quite interesting to see these two young actresses really come into their own over the next few years, as they show a great deal of potential here. Even Sigismondi, who shows some signs of inexperience when directing a feature film, could bring us something more interesting in the future.
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