The Runaways

Gorgeous imagery.

It's a too-familiar rags-to-riches-to-rags tale without much substance. But it looks and sounds good, and now and again it rocks.

The audience is meant to relate to Jett's indignation-the band's success should hinge on their sound, not their looks-but it feels like a bogus position, since we, in watching the scene on the lawn, have been made complicit in Cherie's objectification.

It's not so much a shock to the system as a series of practised strokes, yet -- for moments at a time -- it makes you squirm happily in your seat.

The Runaways comes off as too much like Walk the Line and not enough like Sid and Nancy. The result is easily watchable, but it could have said so much more about the contradicting messages of the band.

The film is well acted and well made, but the interest is more historical rather than musical. [Full review in Spanish]

A biopic that's exploitative rather than being about exploitation.

Based on the memoir Neon Angel: The Cherie Currie Story and executive produced by Joan Jett, this all-girl rock band biopic hits all the right notes in all the right places.