Starring Patrick Fugit, Kate Hudson, Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand, Philip Seymour
Hoffman, Jason Lee, John Fedevich, Noah Taylor, Mark Kozelek, Anna Paquin, Bijou Phillips.
Directed by Cameron Crowe.
William White (Fugit) lives with his overbearing college professor mom (McDormand)
and his mildly rebellious sister. Her sister decides she's had enough and leaves
home, but she leaves William with her record collection, which contains every 60's
classic from Dylan to Simon and Garfunkel to The Rolling Stones. By 1973, William
is a 15-year-old teenager who writes about rock and roll. The editor of Creem and
rebel rock critic Lester Bangs (Hoffman, who wears a Guess Who t-shirt) offers to
pay him to write an article. Soon Rolling Stone offers him
$1000 to follow a band on the road and write an expose - and they haven't even met
him or realized he's just a kid. William's Mom is very apprehensive about letting
her young son enter the sordid world of rock and roll, but reluctantly lets him go.
He goes to a concert and tries to get backstage with his Creem press card, but he's
turned away until he meets the band members of up-and-coming opening act Stillwater.
He meets a pretty "band-aid" (a girl who is not just a groupie, but a
fan of the band and keeps their "spirits" up while on the road) named Penny Lane
(Hudson) who likes the kid and takes him under her wing. Along with fellow band-aids
(Phillips, Paquin), they tour on the bus and in the hotels with the band, experiencing
the parties, the fights and the music. Despite Lester's admonition to never be
too friendly with the band, William becomes close with not only the girls but members
of the band, especially the lead guitarist and bandleader (Crudup), and is not at
all sure whether he should write all that he knows and has seen.
Based on Cameron Crowe's own experience as a young teenager writing for Creem, Crawdaddy
and Rolling Stone. It's filmed as a misty-warm, nostalgic look at rock and roll in the
early 1970's - Crowe has obviously maintained a fondness for the people and musicians
he spent time with. William's life is every nerdy guy's dream - he gets to skip
school and follow his favourite band on their concert tour while being befriended
(and more) by beautiful women.
Crowe's surrogate William is also portrayed in a
rose-coloured way. Bright and good-natured, Williams just enjoys drinking all
the action in, but doesn't partake much in the sex, drugs and rock and roll himself.
He scrupulously avoids the drugs part, just like his mother told him to, but he
does get a taste of the sex part. And sex is portrayed here as joyful and fun,
just something that friends do on the road. As is the communion the band, the girls
and the young journalist experiences singing Elton John's Tiny Dancer, John's
appreciation for the girls who hang around backstage. Underneath this rosy portrayal
are some interesting observations about friendship and romantic relationships among
people in unreal circumstances, and the tug of war in the music industry between
the pursuit of fame and fortune, and the love of the music. The soundtrack of
the film contains songs chosen with care to highlight the upbeat or downbeat mood
of the characters and plot, from the previously mentioned Tiny Dancer to
songs from Neil Young to Thunderclap Newman - not all of them are tres cool, but
they but appropriate for the tone of the movie.
The performances are generally strong throughout. Kate Hudson is perfect as the
good-natured free-spirit who pretends she never lets her feelings get involved,
but can't help herself as she falls for one of the band members. Fugit is generally
fine as the wide-eyed, sweet-natured teen, but he is not as strong when having to
portray any intensity of feeling. Hoffman portrays the late Lester Bangs, the
uncompromising rock critic who actually Crowe did meet and get advice from, and
Hoffman is excellent, embodying a uncompromsing, lonely man who loves rock music
and would attack anyone in his writing if he thought they were corrupting or watering
down rock and roll.
Hoffman also delivers
many of the movies most insightful lines about the music industry and music criticism.
He tells In one conversation, he suggests William would meet many boring and unsupportive
people "on that long journey to the middle". And Crowe has aimed his movie right
at the middle. Almost Famous is a not an acid-drenched satire of the music
business, but a young kid's romantic view of both the good and bad of his music
business experience. Every film needn't be an on-the-edge experience. The middle
isn't so bad a place to be if done well, and Almost Famous is. It's a
fun, well-scripted, well-performed, and appealing especially to those who remember
and love music from the early 1960's and early 1970's.
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