45) The Runaways
Director: Floria Sigismondi
Year: 2010
Plot Summary: A coming-of-age biopic about '70s teenage band The Runaways.
The Runaways is nothing more than a painfully bland, completely average and totally forgettable music picture that doesn't do anything that hasn't been done a million times before.
I went into the film knowing little about The Runaways other than a few songs, but about ten minutes in I could already tell exactly what was going to happen. Will they, by any chance, go from being ordinary girls to rock stars? Could their fame be ruined by a singer who turns to drugs or alcohol? One member couldn't possibly get jealous of another because of their attention and, as a result, break up the band, could they? Well, it all happens in The Runaways.
It likes to think that it's fresh and original, but what the filmmakers don't seem to realise is that this narrative could be applied to thousands of bands. Even the style is so predictable that I found myself cringing at times!
The thing that perfectly sums up this movie is the reaction of the couple sat in front of me who, at one point, turned to each other with a confused look on their faces as if to say: "What is the point of all this?" And that's exactly my problem with this film. There's nothing about The Runaways' story that needs to be told.
However, I do respect the fact that it had a cast of strong, tough female characters who took on the boys at their own game and that it's got a good message about how women can do things just as well as men. But, unfortunately, nothing really develops from there and, by about the halfway point, I found myself resisting the temptation to stand up in the middle of the packed cinema and shout "WE GET IT!"
Moreover, Kristen Stewart shows that she does have the ability to act unlike her appearances in the Twilight Sage and Michael Shannon is as great as always. Plus, if it is able to turn a lot of teenage girls onto the amazing music of The Runaways then I guess it's not a total disaster. But that's really all the positive stuff I can find to say.
Pointless, predictable and one to miss.
2/5
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