I am a fan of Kristen Stewart, and I of course know the music of Joan Jett, so I was interested in seeing this movie from when it came out, and we went and saw it opening weekend, and enjoyed it quite a bit. It is well made and enjoyable, with some great performances, but it is when you delve more into the story and see where it is shy that the film comes off as good, but not great. Mainly it’s fault lie int he fact that it is adapted from Cherie Currie’s book, so it only cursorily deals with Joan Jett (who I honestly had no idea that she was also 15) and really ignores the other members of the band all together. And while it does show much of the horror of Cherrie Curry’s experience, it does skip her rape and ignore the fact that her sister was not fraternal and was in fact a twin. Still there is much to enjoy. The film is well directed, with some very well done drug sequences, and Dokota Fanning, Kristen Stewart and Michael Shannon are all great in the film, and the film is worth watching. It just does not have the depth it could have had.

Young girl Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) plays guitar and wants to rock in a girls band in the 1970′s, but no one thinks a girl can rock. Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning) is going to clubs, and lip syncing to David Bowie at her school, and getting into trouble. While out at a club Joan runs into the band manager and producer Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon who rocks the socks off this film) and convinces him she wants to make a girl band that rocks, and it hits something in his head. So he gives her his number, and introduces her to Sandy West (Stella Maeve) a drummer, and the two hit it off and start making some songs. Cherrie meanwhile is not too happy at home with her mother Marie Harmon (Tatum O’Neal) who is getting married and leaving the country, and her father is a drunk. She and her sister Marie (Riley Keough) end up having to move in with their grandmother and drunken father. At a club, while dressed in David Bowie attire, Fowley finds Cherie and asks her if she wants to be in a band, and she agrees, and comes to his broken down trailer to meet him, Joan, Sandy and Lita Ford (Scout Taylor-Compton) as well as bass player Robin (Alia SHawkat playing a fictional character because of rights issues). Cherie does not seem right at first, but Fowley and Joan make the song Cherie bomb on the spot, and Fowley teachers her to sing it like a viken, and the band is off and running.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

The crazed Fowley teaches them to be rockers, and gets them smaller and then bigger gigs, having them tour with a roadie Scottie (Johnny Lewis) and eventually manages to get them a record deal.

Along the way they all do drugs, and things get crazy. With Joan and Cherie having sex, and Cherie hooking up with Scottie as well.

The Band then is going to Japan, and Fowley has sexy photos of Cherie taken for Japanese magazines. The go to Japan and are huge there, and Cherie does her famous act in lingerie, while drugged out of her mind, even ignoring calls from her sister about her father who is totally messed up.

And the bad flips when they find out about the photos of Cherrie, as they want to be a band and not just sex symbols.

Eventually the drug use and egos gets too much, and Cherrie ends up leaving the band.

Her downfall is inevitable as she is still under age and should not be doing so many drugs, and she ends up in a hospital.

Joan Jett also ends up leaving Fowley, and while she is down for a while, her life is rock, and she goes on to start her own band. While getting interviewed on the radio, Cherrie calls her to say hi. Cherie is working at a wedding cake shop, but does not tell Joan.

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As I said, enjoyable to watch, it is just too bad they didn’t delve a little deeper into at least Joan Jett, especially since she executive produced the film. Still worth checking out.