Review: Bad Reputation

Told in a manner as briskly paced as a punk song, the interview heavy documentary Bad Reputation looks at the successes and struggles of rock and roll pioneer Joan Jett. Playing all the hits and hitting all the necessary career milestones in a relatively comprehensive manner, director Kevin Kerslake and frequently collaborating writer/editor Joel Marcus (As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM) have made a film that moves as briskly, forcefully, and thoughtfully as some of Jett’s greatest and heaviest compositions. Fans of the worthily revered rocker will likely enjoy this full throttle trip down memory lane, but anyone looking for any sort of personal or introspective insight about Jett’s remarkable career will be left in the dust.

Since being gifted with a cheap, department store bought guitar at the age of thirteen, Joan Jett embraced music as her life’s calling and never looked back. Only a year after taking up the guitar, Jett helped to found The Runaways, possibly the most iconic, influential, and noteworthy all female band in rock history. Squabbles with management and fellow band members eventually led to The Runaways’ acrimonious and unceremonious break-up early into their careers, with Jett carving out her own path in the music industry. It was a rocky road that was paved onto the bones of a roller coaster. For every success, there were dozens of other setbacks with less than supportive record labels and just as many glass ceilings to break through.

Kerslake and Marcus allow Jett, who’s front, centre, and gregarious throughout, to tell her life story from front to back along a timeline. While there are plenty of other interview subjects who are brought in for context and commentary (including Iggy Pop, Kathleen Hanna, Debbie Harry, and various family members), Bad Reputation is Jett’s story to tell on her own. Jett has always boasted a refreshing “take it or leave it” attitude when it comes to her personal beliefs and convictions, which includes some contradictions like championing animal rights causes and calling out fake feminists while simultaneously working tirelessly to make sure U.S. troops are kept entertained during times of war. Jett is a passionate person to listen to and watch, but to her facts are facts, and Bad Reputation is packed from floor to ceiling with every possible detail and anecdote regarding the singer-songwriter’s varied career. It’s not the most original or ambitious approach, but it’s told with Jett’s trademark candor and no bullshit delivery.

Bad Reputation doesn’t spend longer than necessary rehashing what led to the demise of The Runaways, probably (and correctly) assuming that it’s a story that’s been rehashed and revised numerous times before. Kerslake’s documentary picks up considerable momentum after the breakup of his subject’s breakthrough band, looking at Jett’s struggles with addiction issues and the daunting task of selling her new band to misogynist record executives who want nothing to do with a female driven act. She was a huge success in Europe in the late 70s and early 80s, but American labels wanted largely nothing to do with her. Even megahits along the lines of her cover of “I Love Rock and Roll” wouldn’t be enough to sustain career longevity, and Jett has worked tirelessly to this day to remain a relevant force in the recording industry. If at any point Jett wanted to sell out, she could have become a part of the star and hit making machinery, but her refusal of such easy paths to success makes her even more of an icon to the legions of musicians she’s inspired over the decades. She the picture of an uncompromising artist who has earned every bit of her notoriety on her own terms. In the process, she became a figurehead that never had to reinvent or re-brand herself.

Jett’s constantly vacillating rags to riches and back again story is inspirational without ever coming across as phony. Bad Reputation focuses squarely on the work being put in, with Kerslake and the documentary’s fellow interview subjects refusing to talk down to or around Jett’s experiences and contributions to music. Jett knows that she’s made mistakes and that there were things she could have handled better and more maturely in hindsight, but Bad Reputation is a film about someone who’s grateful that she’s lived through such missteps and digressions in the first place. Bad Reputation takes none of its subject’s multi-faceted accomplishments for granted, treating Jett and her career with an appropriate amount of admiration without turning its subject into something she never wanted to be: some sort of rock deity.

Bad Reputation is about business and accomplishments first and everything else second. While it would have been easy for a film to overlook her current advocacy efforts or career footnotes like her starring role in Paul Schrader’s little loved 1987 drama Light of Day (which co-star Michael J. Fox graciously pops up to talk about), Kerslake has made a film that will appease Jett completists who follow the singer’s every move to this day. Unfortunately, such a rigid approach leaves little room for personal insights and feelings. Outside of showcasing the loving, but unromantic relationship Jett has with her best friend and longtime manager Kenny Laguna and the aforementioned start to her career, there’s curiously little on display here that couldn’t be found in any number of magazine articles, books, or past interviews. We know what Jett’s accomplishments are and to a certain degree what they mean to her, but anything that might have happened within the margins of her success has been curiously given little screen time.

With just a bit more information outside the obvious and easily gleaned, Bad Reputation could have been an all time great biopic. Instead, it’s a solid, if decidedly less than challenging profile piece. Joan Jett remains a wonderful speaker to spend ninety minutes in the company of, but the film about her is more of a fact dump than a deep dive into what makes someone tick. At least it’s told with a sense of energy and enthusiasm that makes it all easily entertaining and captivating just the same.

Bad Reputation screens at The Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema on September 29, October 3, and October 12, 2018. It’s available on iTunes and On Demand services on Thursday, September 28.

Check out the trailer for Bad Reputation: