642
(1 vote, average 5.00 out of 5)
Written by Gregg Shapiro
Apr 8, 2010
A scene fro “The Runaways,” starring Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett and Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie. – Courtesy photo
“Chloe”
(Sony Pictures Classics)
Atom Egoyan’s psycho-sexual thriller “Chloe” feels like a throwback to the pre-mid-1980s queer cinema breakthrough period. Prior to that time, gay men and lesbians were often portrayed as predatory and had to die by the last reel in order for their heterosexual objects of obsession to get on with their lives without the threat of same-sex attraction.
Upscale and successful gynecologist Dr. Catherine Stewart (Julianne Moore) fears the worst when her flirtatious college music professor husband David (Liam Neeson) blows off the fancy-shmancy surprise birthday party she planned for him in their stunningly appointed modern home. A chance encounter with high-priced call-girl Chloe (Amanda Seyfried, really!) in the women’s room of a restaurant leads Catherine to procure her services. Catherine hires Chloe to make contact with David and then report back to her to confirm her suspicions.
But things are not what they seem. Although David appears to be a cad on the surface, he is, in fact, all talk and no action. Catherine and David’s musician son Michael (Max Thieriot) is getting more action. In spite of reporting, in graphic detail, her assignations with David to Catherine, Chloe has not bedded him. It turns out that it’s Catherine on whom she has her sights set. And after a passionate day in bed, fueled by Catherine’s interest in the rent-girl’s supposed sexual prowess, Chloe is head over heels (and heels behind ears) in love with Catherine. Alas, Catherine doesn’t feel the same, leading Chloe to some very irrational and naughty behavior, including making contact with and making love to Michael (in his parents’ bed, no less). And, in a final showdown with Catherine, it’s Chloe who’s taken down by the slings and arrows of outrageous romance.
It’s hard to imagine that a filmmaker such as Egoyan, who created such timeless work as “The Sweet Hereafter,” could be responsible for a film that teeters on the precipice of softcore porn. Potentially titillating for straight men, “Chloe” is a frigid disappointment.
“The Runaways”
(Apparition)
Biopics continue to be a hit-or-miss proposition, and “The Runaways” is a good case in point. An all-girl (emphasis on “girl,” as the members were in their teens) rock band that played its own instruments and wrote its own songs, The Runaways was formed in the mid-1970s, a time when such a thing was still on the risky side. As the story (director Floria Sigismondi’s screenplay based on Cherie Currie’s book) goes, Southern California girls Joan Jett, nee Larkin (Kristen Stewart) and Cherie Currie (a suddenly grown-up Dakota Fanning), who both shared a love of rock music and coloring outside of the lines, were groomed by record producer/songwriter/starmaker Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon) to be lead guitarist and vocalist, respectively, in the next big thing.
With other band members recruited, including Sandy West (Stella Maeve), Lita Ford (Scout Taylor-Compton) and someone – a possible composite named Robin (Alia Shawkat) – taskmaster Fowley puts the band through its paces and eventually unleashes it on the world. The Runaways caused a ripple stateside, but in Japan, they were tsunami strength. This fact is illustrated in a scene where a mob of rabid and screaming Japanese fans shatters a glass wall separating them from the band.
Unprepared for even the least of amount of success, the already unstable personalities inside and outside of the band begin to clash. Cherie, especially, feels pulled in a multitude of directions. After being abandoned by her self-absorbed mother (Tatum O’Neal), she feels guilty for having left sister Marie (Riley Keough) behind to care for their alcoholic father. Heading down a path similar to dear old dad’s, Cherie also becomes involved in a romantic relationship with Joan Jett. Things come to a head during a recording session where tempers flare and instruments are thrown.
Since the devil is in the details, it’s interesting that in Sigismondi’s vision, she gets certain things, such as the fashions, the hairstyles, the make-up, even the cars so right, while she drops the ball on others. The Runaways were more than just Jett and Currie, and yet their story is the main focus. This holds true right to the end where, post band break-up, the two young women who hadn’t spoken to each other for quite some time find themselves reunited on the radio – one as an interview subject, the other as a listener and caller. Kudos, however, to Sigismondi for not shying away from the same-sex love story of The Runaways’ tale.
