Edgeplay: A Film about the Runaways (2004)

Is there ever a happy rocknroll story? This is the story of the Runaways,  an all girl band who were young, naive and easily manipulated by an abusive Svengali.  The film was made by former bassist Vicki Blue (now going by Victory Tischler-Blue), and has interviews with all the band members except Joan Jett. It would have been nice to have her input, but then again, the movie works fine without it.

The interviews are interesting as each person has different views on what happened in the band.  The only thing everyone agrees on is that Kim Fowley was verbally abusive, more so to some than others.

While I enjoyed hearing everyone's viewpoint, what's really disappointing is that the only songs included in the film are two live cover songs, Rock and Roll (The Velvet Underground) and Wild Thing (The Troggs). Seriously?  So they couldn't get permission to use their own music?  Did Joan have a writing credit on every song? And if she doesn't want to be a part of it, could she at least have granted permission to use the songs? Come on!

The other issue is that there is hardly any old footage or photos of the band.  You would think the band members would have photos or memorabilia. Did none of the girls bring a camera with them? There are some short clips of the girls walking, driving, or a sentence of two from interviews.

One of the things that works well and gives extra depth to the movie is the interview with drummer Sandy West's mother.  She seems like a sweet lady and is still haunted by her decisions and Sandy's destructive path for much of her life.  Ms. West says the parents were told the girls would be chaperoned and cared for on the tour.  But the girls talk about how all they ate was McDonalds and had no supervision.

It's sad seeing Sandy West try to grapple with why the band broke up, and why they can't do a reunion.  All she ever wanted was to be the drummer in a band.  I can't imagine being a teen rock star and then having to go back to being some regular kid and get a crappy job.

What do you do when the high point of your life was when you were sixteen years old? In Sandy's case, it's work construction, develop a drug problem and live a pretty rough life, including working as an inforcer where she kicked in doors, broke arms and pulled guns on people.  It's sad. It's even sadder watching Sandy's mother cry as she describes how worried the family was about Sandy, or how she wishes she'd never let her be involved with Kim Fowley. But she tried to do what was best and be supportive because you can't kill your childs dreams.

Another question that isn't addressed is how do fourteen year olds hand out in a nightclub in Hollywood? I guess it was a teen night club, but Kim Fowley was in there so it wasn't just teens, which is creepy.

I prefer this to the Runaways movie, but was disappointed about the lack of actual Runaways photos and video, and songs.  So if you're interested in hearing the band talk about how they remember things, then it's pretty interesting. I enjoyed it.