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"THE RUNAWAYS"
(2010) (Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning) (R)

Alcohol/
Drugs
Blood/Gore Disrespectful/
Bad Attitude
Frightening/
Tense Scenes
Guns/
Weapons
Extreme Mild Extreme Minor Mild
Imitative
Behavior
Jump
Scenes
Music
(Scary/Tense)
Music
(Inappropriate)
Profanity
Extreme None None Heavy Extreme
Sex/
Nudity
Smoking Tense Family
Scenes
Topics To
Talk About
Violence
Extreme Extreme Heavy Extreme Mild


QUICK TAKE:
Drama: A group of mid 1970s teens break the mold of an all-girl band by playing rebellious and sexualized rock 'n roll and must contend not only with their quickly growing success, but also their male manager who takes advantage of them.
PLOT:
It's 1975 Los Angeles and record producer Kim Fowley (MICHAEL SHANNON) is looking for the next band with potential. He thinks he's found it when he pairs teens Joan Jett (KRISTEN STEWART) on rhythm guitar and Cherie Currie (DAKOTA FANNING) as his lead singer, along with Sandy West (STELLA MAEVE) on drums, Lita Ford (SCOUT TAYLOR-COMPTON) as lead guitarist and Robin (ALIA SHAWKAT) on bass. Realizing their "jail bait" status could be a huge selling point that could match or exceed their punk rock music and that they're the first all-girl band to play punk rock, Kim forges ahead, sexualizing both them and the lyrics of their songs.

Cherie's twin sister Marie (RILEY KEOUGH) isn't particularly happy about that, but with their mom having moved overseas and their estranged father being an alcoholic, there's really no parental figure to put the nix on that. With roadie Scottie (JOHNY LEWIS) in tow, the band goes from playing small parties to progressively bigger gigs, culminating in a tour through Japan where The Runaways have become the next big thing.

From that point on, they must not only contend with Kim continuously pushing the envelope with them and their sexuality, but also what growing fame does to them in terms of egos, drug use and more.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
If they're fans of anyone in the cast, the original band or are interested in rock 'n roll stories (especially pertaining to all-girl bands) they just might.
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R
For language, drug use and sexual content - all involving teens.
CAST AS ROLE MODELS:
Considering what occurs in the film (teenage sex, drug use, drinking, profanity, bad/rebellious attitudes & egos, and a male producer sexualizing his teen -- including underage -- girl band, etc.) it's doubtful many, if any, parents would consider any of the major characters as good role models.
CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE


Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.


(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).


OUR WORD TO PARENTS:
Here's a quick look at the content found in this R-rated drama. Profanity consists of at least 68 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered. Sexually related dialogue (much of it explicit) and song lyrics are present as is sexually related material involving teens (fooling around and implied sex, both straight and lesbian, as well as a female masturbation scene) and adults (intercourse with movement and sounds). Scantily clad teenage girls are seen, and nudity (bare butts, breasts) is also briefly present.

Said teens drink, smoke and use drugs, and all of that and other behavior might be enticing for kids (especially girls) to imitate. Bad attitudes are present, as is tense family material and thematic elements (including the sexualizing of teens for media profit). Some crude and scatological material also occurs, while some blood is present. Some things are thrown around or at others in anger or just as bad attitudes.

Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.

For those concerned with bright flashes of light on the screen, there are strobe effects in a club in several scenes, while there's also some of that from camera flashes.

For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there's some camera movement from time to time in the film.


ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE
  • Joan and another girl take turns inhaling from a paper bag.
  • The girls share a combination of booze that one states she made in order to keep her father from realizing she took some from every bottle. Another girl states her father would know if she did that. After a comment is made about a dirty sink, Joan says that will be what they'll all be "puking" into tomorrow from that drinking.
  • Young people drink at a party, and a young woman who goes into a bedroom with a guy ends up topless but then passes out (from drink and/or possibly unseen drugs).
  • Kim commentates about photos of the girls, including about Cherie having a joint in her mouth.
  • As Cherie is about to leave with the band to go on tour, she and Marie find their dad passed out in a car. When they open the door, he falls out, as does a bottle, but Marie tells Cherie she can handle it.
  • Joan pours booze into a water pistol, shoots that into Cherie's mouth and then into her own.
  • Marie tells Cherie that their grandmother wonders if their dad is full of dope.
  • Joan and another girl share a cigarette or joint, and then take pills with Cherie given to them by a guy.
  • A song has the lyrics "All of you are drunk or stoned" and "You like drugs you like brew," repeats them and includes other related material.
  • Joan blows pot smoke into Cherie's mouth in a sensual fashion while on top of her, followed by them having sex.
  • Marie isn't happy with her sister not being around to help with their dad (and being famous, etc.), and thus when Cherie leaves some pills for her, Marie throws them back at her.
  • Scottie tells the girls, as their plane is approaching its landing in Japan, that if they're holding drugs they should get rid of them now. Joan and Cherie then go into the plane's bathroom and snort a lot of coke, with Joan saying she can't do any more.
  • Various people raise a toast with sake, while one of the girls wants a beer instead. More sake is then consumed.
  • Cherie appears drunk or high while dancing around for Scottie, and she doesn't react in a sober way when her sister calls her (in Japan) that their dad is sick. During this, Scottie drinks champagne from the bottle.
  • Cherie stomps down on a pill and then snorts that from the floor before a concert.
  • One of the girls has beer.
  • Cherie collapses upon coming out of an elevator (from drug use and/or exhaustion, etc.).
  • Cherie returns home and sees her sick dad, and takes some of his prescription medicine (from the stress of that and/or being an addict).
  • We see Cherie holding a bottle.
  • Cherie tries to buy vodka in a store (underage and stoned or drunk) and becomes belligerent ("You're nothing but dog-sh*t" and "You're just a filthy p*ssy") toward both the clerk and manager when they refuse to sell it to her.
  • BLOOD/GORE
  • We see a drop of blood hit the street and then some down Cherie's leg (from getting her period for the first time). She and Marie rush into a bathroom and the latter removes her panties to give her sister to wear with a makeshift pad.
  • Cherie sees what appears to be dog excrement on the ground outside the rehearsal trailer, and Kim refers to her as urine-soaked "dog-sh*t" when she won't rehearse a song.
  • The girls share a combination of booze that one states she made in order to keep her father from realizing she took some from every bottle. After a comment is made about a dirty sink, Joan says that will be what they'll all be "puking" into tomorrow from that drinking.
  • Joan holds her crotch as she has to pee ("I gotta take a piss"), but the bathroom is occupied. So she goes into another room, spots the guitar of a guy who was just a jerk toward her, and urinates on that (we see the urine hitting it).
  • Joan carves something into her skin (with bloody results) while we see something similar on Cherie's shoulder.
  • An article about Cherie is read aloud that dealing with her is like having a dog "piss" in your face.
  • Lita is upset with Cherie and makes that perfectly clear, including sarcastically asking permission from her to go "piss." Cherie replies she can do so in her pants.
  • DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE
  • Cherie cuts part of her hair, puts red streaks on her face, and then lip-synchs to a David Bowie song during a talent show. Other students laugh at her and then throw paper and other stuff at her on the stage. In response, she gives them "the finger" with both hands.
  • Joan takes guitar lessons, but the older man says that girls don't play electric guitar, and tries to teach her "On Top of Old Smokey." In response, she sings the first line but then adds, "I dropped my sweetheart for screwing too slow."
  • Kim refers to the girls as "bitches" and wants to emphasize their sexuality and jail-bait quality as a means of promoting them.
  • Seeing 15-year-old Cherie as the band's possible lead singer, and liking her innocent but somewhat sexual look, Kim says "Jail-f*cking-bait" and "Jack-f*cking-pot" about his discovery.
  • During his tirade about their rebellious music, Kim throws out the mindset of "daddy is a faggot."
  • Trying to get them agitated, Kim refers to the girls as "filthy p*ssies."
  • Teens throw things at the band during a party, with the girls blocking that stuff and occasionally knocking it back into the throwers.
  • Some male band members have bad attitudes toward the girls, prompting one of the latter to tell one guy (who flicked a cigarette at Joan) that the guys will be opening for them. One guy then sarcastically replies, "Opening your legs maybe." In response, Joan later urinates on the guy's guitar when he's not around.
  • As the band is signed to a recording contract, Kim jokes that he was going to have a dwarf band but that their hands were too small for the instruments.
  • Kim is demanding of the band again and calls them "bitches."
  • Cherie returns home and sees her sick dad, and takes some of his prescription medicine (from the stress of that and/or being an addict).
  • Lita is upset with Cherie and makes that perfectly clear, including sarcastically asking permission from her to go "piss." Cherie replies she can do so in her pants.
  • Kim admits he had Cherie do a solo photo shoot to generate controversy and thus garner further publicity (as well as control the band by preventing them from being unified).
  • Cherie tries to buy vodka in a store (underage and stoned or drunk) and becomes belligerent ("You're nothing but dog-sh*t" and "You're just a filthy p*ssy") toward both the clerk and manager when they refuse to sell it to her.
  • FRIGHTENING SCENES
  • Cherie collapses upon coming out of an elevator (from drug use and/or exhaustion, etc.).
  • GUNS/WEAPONS
  • Joan puts a water pistol down the front of her pants and later fills that with liquor that she then squirts into Cherie's mouth and then her own.
  • We see Joan playing with a switchblade (and that might be what she later uses to carve something into her own skin).
  • IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR
  • Phrases: "Let's f*cking celebrate," "The greatest f*cking band," "(Maybe I am the) Luckiest dog-f*cker," "What the f*ck you girls been doing over there?" "You bitches are gonna be bigger than the f*cking Beatles," "Jail-f*cking-bait," "Jack-f*cking-pot," "F*ck you," "F*ck authority," "Like a f*cking orgasm," "What the f*ck?" "F*ck you, old man," "I don't give a f*ck," "You f*cking filthy dogs," "We're f*cking rocking it," "Are you f*cking kidding me?" "Blah-f*cking-blah," "What's your f*cking problem?" "Linda-f*cking-Lovelace," "I'm paying out the f*cking nose," "Shut the f*ck up," "Good f*cking job," "Are we not your f*cked-up family now?" "Get the f*ck out," "Oh sh*t," "(You're nothing but) Dog-sh*t," "Bullsh*t," "They're sh*t," "I've had it with her sh*t," "Sh*t, man," "It doesn't mean sh*t," "I don't give a sh*t," "This is Dick Johnson," "Okay, filthy p*ssies," "You have to think with your c*cks," "Boner" (erection), "You're just a filthy p*ssy," "Supposed to be bitchin,'" "That guy's a total creep," "Bitches," "Gotta take a piss," "Jerk-offs," "Get your little ass ready" and "What the hell are you wearing?"
  • The film could inspire girls to put a punk rock type band together and behave in similar ways (bad attitudes, drugs, sex, etc.) as occurs here.
  • Cherie cuts part of her hair, puts red streaks on her face, and then lip-synchs to a David Bowie song during a talent show. Other students laugh at her and then throw paper and other stuff at her on the stage. In response, she gives them "the finger" with both hands.
  • Joan and another girl take turns inhaling from a paper bag.
  • Kim (a man) wears a lot of eye make-up, including a large area around one eye in one scene.
  • The girls share a combination of booze that one states she made in order to keep her father from realizing she took some from every bottle.
  • To get them used to people throwing stuff at them on the stage, Kim has some younger boys throw trash and such at the girls during rehearsal.
  • We see a photo of Joan giving the finger.
  • Joan puts a water pistol down the front of her pants and later fills that with liquor that she then squirts into Cherie's mouth and then her own.
  • We see Scottie's bare butt as he jumps into a pool.
  • Joan holds her crotch as she has to pee ("I gotta take a piss"), but the bathroom is occupied. So she goes into another room, spots the guitar of a guy who was just a jerk toward her, and urinates on that.
  • Joan carves something into her skin (with bloody results) while we see something similar on Cherie's shoulder.
  • Joan uses a template to spray-paint the name of the band "Sex Pistols."
  • Joan throws things in anger in a recording studio.
  • JUMP SCENES
  • None.
  • MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)
  • None.
  • MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)
  • Some songs had lyrics that we couldn't fully hear and/or understand, thus presenting the possibility of them potentially containing something objectionable.
  • A song has the line "I'm a blue-eyed bitch."
  • A song repeats the lyric, "Do you wanna touch, do you wanna touch, do you wanna touch me there, where?"
  • Cherie auditions for the band singing Peggy Lee's "Fever" that includes lyrics such as "When you put your arms around me, I give you fever that's so hard to bear. You give me fever, when you kiss me. Fever when you hold me tight, Fever in the morning, Fever all through the night."
  • Kim starts coming up with the lyrics for "Cherry Bomb," but Cherie feels uncomfortable singing lines such as "Have you, grab you, until you're sore," especially after seeing Kim grabbing his own clothed crotch while singing them. During all of this, he states that their brand of music is for masturbators and not women's rights, but women's libidos. He then wants Cherie to sing the song like her sister just "f*cked" her boyfriend in her bed, that he wants it to be like a "f*cking orgasm" and wants to see scratch marks down the back (meaning sexually related). And so she does just that while singing those lyrics.
  • A song has the lyrics "You know when you're close you really turn me on. That's why I want you so bad when you're gone" along with other sexually related lyrics.
  • A song has the lyrics "All of you are drunk or stoned" and "You like drugs you like brew," repeats them and includes other related material.
  • A song has a sexual uses of the "f" word.
  • The band performs "Cherry Bomb" for a crowd, with the same sexually related lyrics as before.
  • The song "Bad Reputation" plays in the closing credits and has the lyric "I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation" as well as additional uses of "damn."
  • PROFANITY
  • At least 68 "f" words (5 used sexually, 1 used with "mother"), 22 "s" words, 8 slang terms using male genitals ("c*ck," "d*ck" and "Johnson"), 3 using female ones ("p*ssy"), 1 slang term for sex ("screwing"), 8 damns (if the song "Bad Reputation" plays in its entirety during the end credits), 2 asses (1 used with "hole"), 2 craps, 1 hell, 2 uses of "Oh my God" and 1 use of "Oh God."
  • SEX/NUDITY
  • Marie makes out with a guy while he's driving and Cherie (in the backseat) informs him that her sister isn't wearing any underwear (from giving hers to Cherie who's just gotten her period). That prompts him to put his hand between Marie's legs and then reaches back toward Cherie, lecherously saying he hopes it (not wearing panties) runs in the family.
  • A girl kisses Joan and then talks about her brother saying guys don't like tough girls. Joan them mentions something about "p*ssy" in relation to her brother and that other girl agrees.
  • Joan takes guitar lessons, but the older man says that girls don't play electric guitar, and tries to teach her "On Top of Old Smokey." In response, she sings the first line but then adds, "I dropped my sweetheart for screwing too slow."
  • A song repeats the lyric, "Do you wanna touch, do you wanna touch, do you wanna touch me there, where?"
  • A young woman in a bra, bikini or similar top is seen in a club.
  • A guy kisses on Joan in a club, but she's distracted by seeing Kim, stating he's a record producer. In response, the guy grabs his own clothed crotch and jokingly states, "This is Dick Johnson" and that he'd like to produce her.
  • Not meant literally, Kim states he's the "luckiest dog-f*cker" in the world, and then repeats that again.
  • Kim refers to the girls as "bitches" and wants to emphasize their sexuality and jailbait quality as a means of promoting them.
  • In one of his sexually themed stream of conscious speeches, Kim refers to lipstick being left on others' "c*cks." He then points to the crotch area of a photo of Bridget Bardot, stating that's what the band's missing.
  • Seeing 15-year-old Cherie as the band's possible lead singer, and liking her innocent but somewhat sexual look, Kim says "Jail-f*cking-bait" and "Jack-f*cking-pot" about his discovery.
  • Kim starts coming up with the lyrics for "Cherry Bomb," but Cherie feels uncomfortable singing lines such as "Have you, grab you, until you're sore," especially after seeing Kim grabbing his own clothed crotch while singing them. During all of this, he states that their brand of music is for masturbators and not women's rights, but women's libidos. He then wants Cherie to sing the song like her sister just "f*cked" her boyfriend in her bed, that he wants it to be like a "f*cking orgasm" and wants to see scratch marks down the back (meaning sexually related). And so she does just that while singing those lyrics.
  • During another rehearsal, Kim tells the girls that men don't want to see women except in the kitchen or on their knees (presumably meaning for oral sex).
  • A guy has his shirt open at a party where a couple then comes into a bedroom. The girl ends up topless on the bed and passes out, but nothing happens as the police are heard approaching and everyone flees.
  • A song has the lyrics "You know when you're close you really turn me on. That's why I want you so bad when you're gone" along with other sexually related lyrics.
  • We see some of the girls in bikinis at the pool, while there's also an older shirtless guy nearby. We then see Scottie's bare butt as he jumps into the pool.
  • As Joan sits nearby but doesn't watch, Cherie tries to masturbate to orgasm. She says it's not working, complaining about the models in the porn photos she's looking at (briefly seen, and they're small images of nude men) that their "d*cks aren't even hard." Joan tells her to try in the shower, but when that doesn't work, Joan tells her to think about Farrah Fawcett. That works for Cherie and we hear her becoming more and more aroused as we see a view of her in the shower (one leg up against the wall, but the rest of her is obscured behind a somewhat opaque shower curtain where we can see some hand movement, but no actual contact or nudity). Joan's expression indicates she's pleased Cherie is interested in women.
  • Some male band members have bad attitudes toward the girls, prompting one to tell one guy (who flicked a cigarette at Joan) that the guys will be opening for them. One guy then sarcastically replies, "Opening your legs maybe."
  • We see a guy kissing Cherie and when we return to the scene, that's being done up against a wall. When we return again, the two come out of the room, with it suggested that they had sex.
  • Joan talks on the phone with Kim and hears occasional squeaking sounds. We then see a shot of Kim on the phone while having standing sex with a woman who's lying on a table, with movement and related sounds.
  • Joan blows pot smoke into Cherie's mouth in a sensual fashion while on top of her. They then passionately kiss and do caressing as we see various quick shots of them having sex. After that, we see Joan in a t-shirt and panties while Cherie is in bed and then standing on that with the sheets around her.
  • We see written quotes about the band including "jail bait" and "wild and braless."
  • A song has a sexual uses of the "f" word.
  • Joan uses a template to spray-paint the name of the band "Sex Pistols."
  • We see Joan's bare back as she's getting dressed.
  • Talking again about sexualizing music, Kim tells the band that men want to "f*ck" and that the girls' music should be about sex, revolt and such. He then says the girls "have to think with your c*cks."
  • Cherie does a photo shoot in a vest and a bikini bottom.
  • The rest of the band is mad at Cherie for having done that solo photo shoot that ended up in a magazine, and there's talk of "c*ck" and a "boner."
  • We see Cherie in a corset and other sexy lingerie, with Joan sarcastically telling her she's ready for a peep show and all she needs is a porn name. Later, Cherie dances around for Scottie in that corset and panties, and then later performs a concert in the same, including spreading her legs in that outfit.
  • The band performs "Cherry Bomb" for a crowd, with the same sexually related lyrics as before.
  • One of the girls sarcastically tells Cherie that the latter isn't "Linda-f*cking-Lovelace" (the porn star) and Joan tells Cherie that they need to publicize the music, "not your crotch."
  • We see Joan kissing a guy and girl on a bed, with all of them then stopping.
  • A downward shot of Cherie shows some cleavage.
  • We see an overhead view of Joan in a tub, but the water isn't clear so we don't see any nudity. An imagined underwater shot of her floating in a large body of water, however, seems to show a distant view of her nude (bare butt, possibly the side of her breasts).
  • Joan dances around with her guitar in a t-shirt and panties.
  • SMOKING
  • Joan smokes at least 8 times, Cherie smokes several times (the first one she lights, but quickly tosses aside), Marie smokes once as does the band's roadie, and some miscellaneous smoking also occurs.
  • We see Joan asleep with a cigarette in her mouth.
  • Kim dumps an ashtray's contents on a photo of Cherie.
  • TENSE FAMILY SCENES
  • Cherie gets a birthday call from her dad (who doesn't live with the family) but he states he can't make it for her big day.
  • Joan says her dad split in the past, something Cherie can identify with.
  • Cherie and Marie's mom announces to them that they're all moving to Indonesia with her boyfriend. The girls are shocked -- Cherie is mad -- and opt to stay in the States with relatives.
  • As Cherie is about to leave with the band to go on tour, she and Marie find their dad passed out in a car. When they open the door, he falls out, as does a bottle, but Marie tells Cherie she can handle it.
  • Marie isn't happy with her sister not being around to help with their dad (and being famous, etc.), and thus when Cherie leaves some pills for her, Marie throws them back at her.
  • Cherie appears drunk or high while dancing around for Scottie, and she doesn't react in a sober way when her sister calls her (in Japan) that their dad is sick.
  • Cherie returns home and sees her sick dad, and takes some of his prescription medicine (from the stress of that and/or being an addict).
  • TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT
  • The sexualizing of female performers, particularly those in their teens and/or who are underage.
  • Teenage sex, drug use, smoking and drinking.
  • Putting a band together and what it takes to keep that from falling apart.
  • The history of all-girl bands and how The Runaways broke the mold up to that point.
  • Punk rock.
  • The historical accuracy of the story here and/or any artistic license taken with the true events.
  • VIOLENCE
  • To get them used to people throwing stuff at them on the stage, Kim has some younger boys throw trash and such at the girls during rehearsal.
  • Teens throw things at the band during a party, with the girls blocking that stuff and occasionally knocking it back into the throwers.
  • Cherie does a photo shoot in a vest and a bikini bottom. Her grandmother then comes out and starts whacking the male photographer with her cane.
  • A glass wall breaks and fans pour into a room from pounding on that wall.
  • Joan throws things in anger in a recording studio, including hard against the large booth window (that doesn't break).



  • Reviewed March 26, 2010 / Posted April 9, 2010

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