Despite living in what is widely regarded as the second major city in the UK, for some reason on release The Runaways was only shown in Manchester at one cinema, on two nights, at the rather inconvenient time of 4.45pm. The film had received good reviews so the feminist in me couldn't help but suspect that this may have been partly due to the fact that The Runaways is a film about women in rock, a subject that doesn't exactly drag in the dollars. I mean why else would a film starring one of the most prominent actresses in Hollywood have such a limited output in the UK? Anyway whatever the reasoning, rather than wait until February when it was due to be released on DVD I paid out for a German copy via ebay. For those of you unfamiliar with the back-story, The Runaways were a 70s American all-girl rock band co-led by the legendary Joan Jett and Cherie Currie. OK so there was an element of manufacture about them, their super-domineering manager Kim Fowley pulled the strings from day one, but the concept was new and led the way for a succession of riot-grrrls.
Whatever you think of them or their music, one thing is for sure the film looks amazing and Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning are totally believable in their roles, Kristen's likeness to Joan being particularly impressive.
Below are some stills from the film which documents their wild and rather short-lived ride together.
