Bad Reputation

Joan Jett is very talented, and this documentary also shows how brave, bold, and original she was early in her career. Those risks that she took are the reason we want to watch a documentary about her today. Great rock documentary!

It's a documentary about female rock pioneer Joan Jett. It follows her from her teen years in L.A. and forming The Runaways with Cherie Currie, Lita Ford, and producer Kim Fowley. After the band's collapse, she falls into despair until she connects with bubble-gum music writer/producer Kenny Laguna. She starts up Joan Jett & The Blackhearts and forced to start a label of their own.

In general, I know about The Runaways and The Blackhearts but I don't know about Laguna. It's a solid biopic of the highs and the lows of her career. It goes through the generalities of The Runaways. Her drug use could be expanded on. I would have liked to know where she was when she heard about the deaths of her friends Sid and Nancy. Does she have any words of wisdom about them? As for the rest, her relationship with Laguna is the most interesting. It doesn't skip over their lulls in the 90's. There are also famous fans doing their thing. The two main non-connected ones are Billie Joe Armstrong and Miley Cyrus. While I appreciated Armstrong, I can do without Cyrus. No matter how hard she tries, Cyrus can never be punk. If it's young female Hollywood, they could have used more Kristen Stewart. At least, she has more professional connection to Joan Jett. One gets a good sense of her in this doc and that's always the main goal.

This is my third or fourth time at least, watching this documentary about my best girl, Joan Jett. And in all honesty, I was not impressed by this the first time I saw it, because it felt like a love-letter just for Joan- a film made just to please her rather than her audience- devoid of anything interesting for fans to come away with, instead leaving us only with what we already knew.

Joan tends to think that people who criticized this doc only wanted tabloid-esque details about her wild party days or whatnot. But, this is not the case- not for me, at least. My main issue with this documentary was that it lacked any real intimacy. I went into this hoping to see her hanging out at home, watching TV, cooking in her kitchen (which she loves to do) while talking to the camera... you know, a day in the life kind of thing, so that it felt like the viewer was really hanging out with her, getting to know her. But, on the contrary, this is an extremely formal and professional portrait. And while I respect the formality as a trait of politeness on Joan's part, it is annoying to someone who wanted something a bit more cozy and revealing.

I didn't learn anything new about the lady I love so dearly, and true to character, she stays classically aloof here. But, after having watched it a few times now (because Joan), I've come to appreciate that despite still leaving something to be desired, it is brisk, never boring, shows Joan to be quite likable, humble, and non-pretentious, and gives a very nice overview of her career.

Don't expect to know Joan deeply after this. This documentary is not a gut-spilling revelation like some are. But, for what it is, it's good. And it's Joan, so...

I love you so very much, Joanie Jett! 💌💖

I think this could have been an interesting story had it been made in 2015 or earlier. Joan Jett is an interesting person but her story was more or less rushed through. I didn't know much about her or her bands and I was confused about who was in the bands and how they formed because the pace was so fast.. I guess it was rushed through so you can get to the last third of the documentary containing the highly unoriginal one sided social justice messages that are being rammed down our throats by the left that feel very tacked on and over-emphasized. It almost felt like it was part of a checklist. As if the extreme left are the only ones who care or have perspective, insight or ideas around the world's problems. Bad Reputation is just all around not that inspiring and feels very mainstream and icky. The reviews on imdb like the reviews on amazon have been co-opted into giving unnecessesarily high ratings to things that don't deserve them. This is one of them.

Documentary on the storied life and career of rock 'n roll guitarist-singer-songwriter Joan Jett, whose path to stardom began in 1975 when the 16-year-old from Canoga Park, CA began frequenting a Hollywood nightclub for kids. Intoxicated by the music and the campy glitter vibe--and inspired by the burgeoning women's movement and Liza Minnelli's performance in "Cabaret"--Jett and her electric guitar from Sears was eager to make contacts within the industry. She quickly did, connecting with eccentric music producer Kim Fowley to form The Runaways, the first hard rock group with 16 and 17-year-old girls as its members. From her years living on the streets of L. A. to a continually hot-and-cold solo career, this rock chick's rollercoaster journey is entertaining despite being laid-out in a spotty fashion (it's the Cliffs notes version). Some wonderful stills, home movies on tour, insider interviews and a hot soundtrack make up for an overall lack of gravitas. *** from ****