In The Hollywood Reporter, Kirk Honeycutt calls Kristen Stewart's performance as The Runaways singer Joan Jett "the driving force" of Floria Sigismondi's debut narrative film The Runaways, which co-stars Dakota Fanning and Michael Shannon. Tatum O'Neal, a child star and already an Oscar winner at the time Jett's band came to prominence in the mid-'70s, has a supporting role in the film.
At Entertainment Weekly, Owen Gleiberman says he was curious to see if Stewart "could leave her swoony Twilight mopiness behind her and play a rock & roll princess with down-and-dirty spunk. (Verdict: She can.)"
Honeycutt was less impressed with the drama itself, calling The Runaways "neither a biopic nor a concert film … the film does prefer music and bad behavior to insight, character or substance," adding that "maybe the film falls into the category of Guilty Pleasures. The dark ugliness on display — the amazing drug abuse and pre-AIDS hedonism — looks probably too exciting. While the film makes it clear its personalities suffered tremendously for their addictions, it all looks so glam."
Gleiberman was just as unimpressed with the film: "When it gets away from the stage, however, and from the iconography of strutting she-devil-in-lingerie empowerment, The Runaways is just a watchable, rather so-so rock biopic, with the thinly imagined characters and desultory, one-thing-after-another episodic slackness of a TV movie."
Collider.com's Steve Weintraub was more enthusiastic about The Runaways, telling his readers that "while there was a lot of debate if the film would show a no-holds-barred account of what The Runaways really went through back in the 70’s – like the drug use and the in-band make-out sessions – not only does the film show a warts-and-all look at what happened to the band – at times you’ll feel like you’re watching documentary footage from the era as Stewart and Fanning are really playing and singing in the film, and they both deliver inspired performances."
Photo: River Road Entertainment
BTW Scytherius, there was also a widely held opinion that the Earth was flat. So much for widely held opinions. It's quite obvious why a lot of your kind don't like her and it has nothing to do with her acting ability. She's been in films with the best of the best: Jodie Foster, Forrest Whitaker, Dennis Quaid, etc. Had ANY of these actors requested her replacement she would have been axed. Until you become a director or an A list actor your opinion means very little.
Ana . . . I HAVE seen all of Kristin Stewart's work. And but for a quite believable teenage girl in Zathura, she is terrible. Do a Google search. There are MANY professional opinions out there that reach the same conclusion.
Do I know her? Of course not. Neither do you. She may be nice, kind, sweet, fun, etc. She may be the best human being since the beginning of time. I even wish her well and success. But she is one of the worst high profile actresses of our age. And, again, that is an opinion widely held.
oh please Scytherius you talk on Kristen Stewart like you know her, like you have seen all her work… you are just frustrate she did something very good, many people cant handle that,
She is much beyond stupid Twilight
I'm not expecting much but i want to see it.
This movie was DOA when Kristin Stewart was cast as Joan Jett. Why anyone on this planet thinks the mopey, blink 1000 times, emotionless actress can act is as befuddling as how the universe began.
Can Stewart sing and do a bit of the rock n roll thing? Sure. Can she bring depth and subtlety to one of the most important characters in rock n roll? Not a chance.