I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Crappy film

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Recruited for what would become a pioneer all-female hard rock band in the 1970s, two teenagers have to contend with whether to promote their music or sex appeal as per the wishes of their eccentric music producer in this film based on the true experiences of the title band that propelled Joan Jett to fame. The film is based on the memoirs of the band's lead singer, Cherie Currie, and the film is mostly spent on the dynamics and rising tensions between Joan and Cherrie, with Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart both convincing in the respective roles. Fanning has some particularly good moments towards the end as all the fame gets to her head and a final conversation between the pair provides a perfect note for the film to end on. In order to focus on these two big personalities, the film uncomfortably ignores the other three members of the band though, all of whom are so lightly developed that they remain completely interchangeable throughout. The fact that Cherie's family background gets such a large focus over Joan's when they are equal protagonists does not quite sit well either. Never to mind, the film is well paced enough that there is rarely a dull moment with Michael Shannon stealing every scene he is in as the band's off-the-wall producer with the craziest twinkle in his eye as he gets them to practise playing while food is thrown at them (!) and as he keeps going on about all negative publicity being good. There is also a lot to like about the girls' determination to succeed in a traditionally all-male industry no matter what it takes.

I love rock biopics, but initially avoided this because it starred Kristen Stewart, star of films where no acting, or plot, or character depth are involved. So it was with some trepidation that I eventually watched it, hoping it wasn't all that bad. Sadly, it is. Kristen Stewart is indeed talentless. What could have been an edgy and intriguing look at one of rock's more controversial bands turns into a fairly lacklustre join-the-dots docu-drama. Much of this is the fault of the director, Floria Sigismondi. However, Kristen Stewart's lack of ability to play anything beyond one-dimensional characters doesn't help, especially as she plays the main character, Joan Jett.Stewart is aided and abetted by Michael Shannon, who, as Kim Fowley, tries too hard to be dark, quirky and edgy and comes off as over- acting.Dakota Fanning makes up for this, to a degree, by putting in an excellent performance as Cherie Currie. There are some other pluses: the music is great, of course. The history of The Runaways is covered fairly well.

I love this movie, it's one of the best rock biopic's I've seen. I admire the deft touch with which Floria Sigismondi directed this movie. I like this director and hope she makes more movies. The film reminded me of how much I always loved this band, even though I cottoned on to them long after they'd split. Great casting and great performances which really captured the zeitgeist. Moreover, and this is really the most important aspect of the story – it successfully informs the importance of these womens' role in breaking down barriers and expectations of women in rock music and really paved the way for the female rock musicians that came after. And let's not forget Kim Fowley's insight and vision that played a big part in that. Rogue perhaps but this guy had a feel for true grit.This movie made me remember why I fell in love with Lita, Joan and Cherie in the first place. And the actors that played them couldn't have done a better job. Kristen and Dakota are exemplary. Special mention for art direction, costume and make-up and great cinematography.

Now I've seen this movie over 100 times and each time I lived it, there's not one thing I dislike about it, the rock n roll, drugs, money, loss , metal and friendships just everything is brilliant. The soundtrack is a stunner this movie got me into the songs, it's about a group of teens going through challenges of the real word and not having any adult supervision and what trouble they get in to. So what's not to live about the romance and drama, kristen Stewart did a fantastic job playing Joan jett so played her so we'll and liked just like her everything was good how it was set in the 70s, she did a great job playing a tom boy girl! Also did Dakota fanning she did very we'll in her acting cherie currie! And did a good job singing haha CHERRY BOMB! So please watch this film!