Bad Reputation

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 ****

Really, she is. I love the song "I Love Rock and Roll" as well as several of her other hits, but I didn't really know that much about Joan Jett. She was before my time, but her story is badass. She was a trailblazing female rocker who was brave, outspoken, and talented. She broke down barriers for women in the music industry and her rock contributions stand the test of time. Fun documentary covering her journey as an artist. Sometimes the movie didn't do a great job of anchoring the events to a timeline, but otherwise, it was well done.

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.

Joan Jett was a trailblazer for women and outsiders in rock n roll and Bad Reputation does a decent job condensing this into a 90 minute raw and intense dive into the highest highs and lowest lows of Joan Jett's illustrious career. While the storytelling is a bit disjointed, it is absolutely a worthwhile watch. I would recommend to any music aficionado.

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!