The Runaways (2010)

Young teens Cherrie Currie and Joan Jett start an all girl band under Kim Fowley's management.  Fowley is creepy, berates them, and rips them off, but without his promotion would they have been able to get the attention they received or tour as they did?   Or could the Runaways have gotten further than they did if Fowley wasn't involved?  We'll never know.

A lot of success has nothing to do with talent, but with being in the right place at the right time.  And even though Fowley is a creep, he did get the young teens a record deal, lots of attention, and a tour in Japan. He had connections and knew how to use them.  Unfortunately he also used the girls in the band.

Although the movie is called The Runaways, it's most about Cherie Currie.  I wasn't aware that the movie was based on Currie's autobiography. So I went into it thinking we'd see a story on the band, not a movie which focused on the relationship between Currie and Joan Jett.  Of course Fowley is a big part of it too since he's the one driving the crazy trip they were on.  I know that's hard to encapsulate successfully in a 1/12 to 2 hour movie, but it would have been more enjoyable if it were the story of the band.