As a film genre, the biopic is a well-worn standard. There’s the meteoric, rags-to-riches story, followed by the inevitable fall and hard-earned redemption. If Joseph Campbell was alive today and lived in Hollywood, he’d write biopics.
In particular, biopics about musicians suffer even worse fates, always relying on the same tropes: abusive or absent families, drug and alcohol abuse, and failed personal relationships. These form the building blocks for what we know about the rock and roll lifestyle, after the band leaves the stage.
With this in mind, I wasn’t expecting much from The Runaways, a film that chronicles the ephemeral career of the groundbreaking band of the same name. But unlike recent classics like Ray and Walk the Line, The Runaways fails to rise above the limitations of genre to craft a captivating film.
