Movie preview: The Runaways

When young, carefree guitarist Joan Jett auditioned then, fifteen year old Cherie Currie for her new band The Runways, she, herself was not aware of what was next to follow. The eye opener for women to be in the music industry, feminism and girl power all rolled in to one and making pop culture history. With the recent release of Jett’s greatest hits throughout time, the new film starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning seems destined to be a huge hit in September, when released in the UK.

Songs of teen rebellion, School Days and Fake Friends strike me as slightly odd coming from the 51-year-old Jett, and lyrics like ‘We are not to blame for seeing love is pain, and we are not ashamed to say that love is pain’ seem (appropriately enough) painfully adolescent, but then again she is promoting a Greatest Hits package of songs she wrote or covered in the 1970s and early 80s.

Starring Kristen Stewart as Jett and Dakota Fanning as Currie, the film premiered at Sundance in January and has had some decent reviews, although its approaching UK release is somewhat overwhelmed by the intense interest in Stewart’s rather less rocking role in Twilight Saga: Eclipse.