The Runaways (2010)

Young Joan Jett just wants to rock but "girls don't play electric guitars."  When she sees producer Kim Fowley on the street, she blurts out that she doesn't want any guys...she wants to start an all-girl rock band and he understands immediately that this is the right idea at the right time.  They spot Cherie Currie in a bar and pick her up as their singer because she's got a good look; bonus that she's only 15.

The story seems like it should be much more interesting than the movie allows it to be.  There's a hazy/rushed feel to the whole thing -- things happen fast and with little fanfare.  Suddenly they're a scrappy little road band and then drunk and sometime-lesbians then high and and stampede-causing stars and addicts and crashing down.  Maybe it's a deliberate choice to show how fast the fame rocket goes both ways?  Whether or not it's on purpose, it made the story feel like a sketch and I never really felt like I knew where the characters were coming from at all.  We barely spent any time with the other three members of the group -- I mean, the extremely recognizable Alia Shawkat was in the band and I didn't even realize it until I looked at the credits afterward.

C+