The Runaways - DVD

Movie: While they faced off as human and Volturi in "New Moon", "Twilight" star Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning now share the stage in the DVD premiere "The Runaways". Based on the autobiography of singer Cherie Currie, the film tells the story of the rise and fall of the all-female rock band THE RUNAWAYS, with which Currie, along with Joan Jett, became superstars virtually overnight.

The wild '70s are slowly coming to an end. Joan Larkin (Kristen Stewart), who goes by Joan Jett, dreams of starting a girl rock band. This dream is shared by Sandy West (Stella Meave), who is introduced to Joan Jett by record producer Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon). The other band members, including singer Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning) are quickly found and soon the five girls are in tight leather outfits on stage and rock what the stuff holds. Although they initially meet with little love from the audience, but soon begins the rapid ascent, which leads the band even to Japan.

But with success also come the problems. Drugs, alcohol, excesses, and creative disputes all lead to the band threatening to break up even as they reach the height of their success.

"The Runaways"is a good music biography that can especially benefit from the fact that two of the former band members made important contributions to the production. While Currie's autobiography provided the template for the screenplay and the singer, who now works primarily as a chainsaw artist, also assisted in the filming, Joan Jett served as executive producer and was also often present on set to assist Kristen Stewart in particular with her performance.

While the film allows itself some liberties. For example, the role of the bassist was cast with the fictional character Robin Robbins, since the Runaways' first bassist, Jackie Fox, had denied the producers the authenticity of her life story, and it changed the cast on bass several times over the course of the band's career anyway. Also, some specific events were summarized in order to not unnecessarily slow down the pace of the film. Overall, however, the whole thing feels very authentic, which is also due to the convincing 70s look that director Floria Sigismondi has created with her team behind the camera.

Anyway, Sigismondi, who has so far primarily directed video clips for artists such as David Bowie, The Cure or Sheryl Crow, proves a good hand for the visual realization in her feature film debut. What the film lacks a little in is the narrative flow, which at times comes across as a little bumpy. While the film rushes through events at some moments, it takes its time unnecessarily at others.

What the film does come up trumps with, on the other hand, is the well-chosen cast. Even if Kristen Stewart and Dokata Fanning are rightly in the foreground, Michael Shannon should not be left unmentioned. Shannon, who already played everyone to the wall in a small supporting role in "Times of Turmoil" by Sam Mendes, is again the secret star of the film in the scenes in which he is seen.

No question, if you like good music biographies and are not averse to 70s rock, you can confidently put "The Runaways"in your DVD player. Great acting, neatly staged and thanks to the cooperation of the real idols also very authentic. Worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: As was to be expected, the sound of the DVD is of course the music in the foreground and that is then also really well mixed. The dialogues are well understandable, but seem in the English language version a little more harmonious and not quite as front-heavy, as in the German version. The picture pleases with a slightly grainy 70s look, which thanks to the good coloring and the overall decent image sharpness really comes into its own. Only in the darker scenes do the contrast and overall sharpness show some minor weak points.

Extras: The best extra on the DVD is undoubtedly the audio commentary, where the two leads are joined by Joan Jett, who contributes some interesting stories to the authenticity of the film. In the short but neat making of, the real Cherie Currie has her say as well as the actors and makers, which makes this short documentary well worth watching. The following featurette is nothing more than a slightly longer promotional trailer. The official theatrical trailer concludes the bonus material.

Conclusion: "The Runaways" is a decent music biopic whose weaknesses are easily outweighed by the positive aspects, such as the good cast and the great soundtrack. The DVD also pleases with a good conversion of picture and sound and also has a revealing audio commentary to offer, where Joan Jett himself has his say. Recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp