Run away or toward The Runaways

Run away or toward The Runaways

Mar 20

I like to imagine an alternate universe or a strange skew in the timeline of our existence where Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart didn’t work on a Twilight sequel together and instead only collaborated on one film to date. That film would be The Runaways, the based-on-a-true-story film about the all-girl rock band of the same name from the 70′s, fronted by Joan Jett (for any real youngsters reading, Joan Jett loves rock n’ roll, so put another dime in the jukebox, baby…)

Sadly, only part of this dreamy alternate existence is reality. There is in fact a Runaways film starring Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart. However… they still starred in Twilight sequel New Moon last year and will both be in Eclipse later this year. So The Runaways is seen as a bit of a re-coupling of sorts, and continues Dakota’s trend into becoming a grown-up actress, rebelling with boobies and whatnot.

I found the casting of Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett strange at first. Sure, Her look is similar, but I’m not sure that Joan Jett sighs and runs her hand through her hair often enough to warrant casting Stewart… then I saw the following picture and it all made sense.

Curious, I dug a little deeper and discovered that Joan Jett herself is a producer of the film– which makes sense. So I guess, if Joan was part of approving the casting of Stewart, there’s no one to blame but herself. Perhaps this is a chance for Stewart to prove her ability beyond Twilight (or, rather, a chance to prove her ability, period).

The Runaways is getting mixed reviews from limited releases and various premieres, but I must reserve judgement and wait until I can see the complete film and not just this trailer (officially releases April 9 in the States, 15 July Down Under). The trailer plays rather typically, with the pacing and cutting all hinting at the journey and hoping to leave audiences interested enough. Probably the biggest drawing card, though, is that of Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning, fresh from their blockbuster film Twilight: New Moon and upcoming Eclipse. I’m very curious to see how much

I haven’t seen a band/music film that truly capture the music and times of an era since Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous (2000), and this trailer for The Runaways feels like it has too much forced-cool to actually survive as any kind of classic. Still, it might be an enjoyable watch. There’s far too much intrigue surrounding it not give it a watch.