Directed by Floria Sigismondi
(R)
**
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For a film about the rise and fall of one of rock’s first all-girl bands, The Runaways is surprisingly tame, said Glenn Gamboa in Newsday. Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning star as Joan Jett and Cherie Currie, respectively. Under the direction of Svengali-like producer Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon), they helped pave the way for future female musicians. The true story of these teenage punkettes is pretty wild, but this film plays like an “after-school special.” It ends up being as much about the seediness of 1970s L.A. as it is about its two protagonists, said Sara Vilkomerson in The New York Observer. Writer-director Floria Sigismondi clearly appreciates their music, but aside from a few quasi-romantic scenes, she fails to explore the complexities of the duo’s relationship. By basing the film on Currie’s memoir, Neon Angel, Sigismondi also makes Jett a bystander much of the time, said Mary Pols in Time. Stewart delivers a fun, punked-out performance, but Fanning, “like a mini–Meryl Streep,” steals the show.
