THE RUNAWAYS (2010) ¢ ¢ ¢
D: Floria Sigismondi
Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Michael Shannon,
Stella Maeve, Alia Shawkat, Riley Keough,
Scout Taylor-Compton, Tatum O'Neal
In "The Runaways", Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett announces her presence unequivocally the moment she appears. It's 1975, and Joan's a 15-year-old, punked out in jeans and a T-shirt, surreptitiously browsing among the men's items in a small clothing store. The clerk behind the counter is talking to a guy decked out from head to foot in black leather. The clerk tells Joan the women's clothes are on the other side of the store. Joan pauses for a second or two and then walks up to the counter, stands next to the leather guy, dumps out a sackful of change, and says matter-of-factly, "I want what he's wearing." The movie tells how Joan and her fellow Runaways - Cherie Currie, Sandy West, Lita Ford and Jackie Fox - challenged the musical establishment and its prevailing wisdom as an all-girl band playing kick-ass rock & roll. It's based on a memoir by Currie, but its most intriguing character (and the band's most charismatic member) is the combative, androgynous Jett, and the intensity level goes up noticeably whenever Kristen as Joan is on screen. Anybody who's watched the real Joan Jett kick and strut and snarl her way through a live show will appreciate just how good at playing her Kristen Stewart is.
