"The Runaways" (2009) Review

The opening of "The Runaways" gives the film an edge that you hope it can sustain. We open on Joan Jett (Kristen Stewert) getting her first leather jacket, and Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning) getting her first period. These opening scenes show a different take on the rock biopic: starting young and not afraid to get it's hands dirty. Unfortunately, as the film moves on it loses that edge. It settles for the more conventional rock and roll biopic complete with full serving of sex, drugs, and bad decisions.

And that's too bad, because director Floria Sigismondi tries to show us something different in the first half of the film. Early scenes show the displacement these girls feel in society. Jett can't get anyone to take her seriously with an electric guitar, and Cherie is booed of stage at her talent show for singing David Bowie. Once they are brought together by the delightfully sleazy Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon) it's a lot of fun to see them shaped into a kick ass rock and roll outfit from the cramped interior of a trailer in the valley. It's once the girls leave that trailer and hit the road that the film regresses back into familiar territory.

If there is one thing that holds the attention for the remainder of the film, it's the performances. Despite the title of the film, the focus is put mostly on Jett and Curie rather than the rest of the band. Luckily, both Stewart and Fanning are pretty good here. Stewart definitely delivers more as Jett. She is not interested in fame or the sex appeal of the band, she is there for the music. Dakota Fanning is a bit more hit or miss. She is great in the first half as a girl who treats her sexuality like a kid who found dad's gun: she is excited by it, but doesn't see the dangers inherent. Once she becomes a drugged out wreck in the latter half of the film, Fanning's performance is less and less interesting. However, the most impressive performance in the film comes from Micheal Shannon as the architect of The Runaways: Kim Fowley. He makes Fowley disgusting and electrifying all at the same time. His absence in the later parts of the story leaves a hole that Sigismondi tries to cover with more sex, drugs, and music montages, but these are no substitute for Shannon's special brand of crazy.

So we're left with a film that shows flashes of great potential, but ultimately takes the safest route down the music biopic path. The Runaways were an important part of music history. They proved that girls could rock just as hard as guys. Too bad the film version of their story isn't nearly as memorable.

Check This Out: The Brothers Bloom

So we have to blog about something huh? Anything in the world. Well, after another piece of micro fiction turned out to be not so micro, I decided to fall back on something I know I can do: tell people about movies they probably haven't heard of, and why they should have. So I'm here to tell you about one of my favorite films from last year: "The Brothers Bloom".

What would life be like if you always knew what was coming next? If you are playing a part, how is that different from living that part? These are the two questions at the center of Rian Johnson's 2009 film "The Brothers Bloom". The story follows two brothers: Stephen (Mark Ruffalo) and Bloom (Adrian Brody) who are con men by trade. Stephen writes the cons and Bloom plays the part that Stephen writes for him. Early in their lives Stephen does this to help Bloom, to help him gain confidence by letting him play a part where the outcome is assured. But when we join the brothers in their adult lives, Bloom is sick of being a fake. He wants to live an unwritten life. Stephen agrees, but only after one last con on an eccentric heiress. What follows is a grand scale con that takes them from New Jersey to Mexico by way of Prague, Belgrade, and Montenegro.

Now that plot description is probably not blowing your mind, but it's the execution that makes this movie great. From the great opening, narrated by Ricky J in rhyming verse, to the jazzy score by Nathan Johnson the film exudes style. Most con movies rely on big twists in the end. Who's really in control is always the question. And while "The Brothers Bloom" has its twists at the end, this film is really about its characters, which are thankfully great.

Brody plays Bloom as somber, but not pathetic. Ruffalo's Stephen is the opposite of his brother. He's cool and cocky, just as someone who lives his life in stories of his own creation should be. Rounding out the crew is the mark for the con: Penelope (Rachel Wiesz) a self proclaimed collector of hobbies. Along with Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi), the brother's mysterious Japanese explosive expert who speaks no more than 3 lines in the entire film, and still manages to steal every scene she is in.

The end result here is a great, funny, and thoroughly cool con film. It excels as a piece of it's genre while asking some questions about it at the same time. I can't recommend Johnson's film enough, and if you need a little more convincing check out the first 5 mins here to see just how slick it is.