My Movie Review: The Runaways

My Movie Review: The Runaways

3.5/5

Opening Statement: The Runaways is a biopic about the start and downfall of the 70's band with the same name mainly following Joan Jett and Cherrie Currie, lead singer and lead guitarist through drugs, loss, and other hardships.

What's Good: It's not for everyone, but with a biopic like this, a non-fiction story, it is what it is, which is a re-telling through music and cinematography, what The Runaways maintains throughout is a healthy and satisfying screenplay which doesn't censor to make anyone look good, it shows the shit that was involved in these young girls lives. The screenplay does have its faults but I seriously doubt the story could've been written out any better. What really makes this movie stand out is the duo breakout performances which I consider oscar-worthy if it were award season from Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning, not to mention an expected great performance from Michael Shannon as Kim Fowley. For ourr two young break out stars this is a turning point to show casting directors what they are truly capable of doing, The Runaways put them to their full potential, and when the story got dull just watching these performances entertained me.

What's Bad: There are probably other band stories that are more biopic worthy than this, but this is definitely a story. My real criticism lies in the first half of the film, the formation of the band was uninteresting really, at times the first half may feel really dull. But hold your head up high because the drug-induced second half shows that The Runaways is not joke. This film probably will fail to impact a grand audience overall, it's hard to say who this might appeal to outside Runaways and Film buffs, or creepers who wanna see Fanning in lingerie. And once the lights come up you may only find yourself talking about this film for a day or two before it completely disappears from your mind.

Consensus: As a biopic, it has its ups and it has its downs. The Runaways is what it is. I encourage people to see this one, but with an open minded sense.