Almost Famous Movie Review

Almost Famous (2000)

Rent Almost Famous on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Cameron Crowe
Directed by: Cameron Crowe
Starring: Billy Crudup, Patrick Fugit, Kate Hudson, Frances McDormand, Jason Lee, Zooey Deschanel, Anna Paquin, Fairuza Balk, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jimmy Fallon
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
Given the chance to write a story for Rolling Stone magazine about an up-and-coming rock band, a high school boy accompanies them on their concert tour in the early 1970s.

Verdict
Everyone in this movie is chasing a dream and feeling, and the movie captures the energy and mood of being a kid on the verge of adulthood and a band on the edge of stardom perfectly. It certainly feels like a memoir, but it develops these characters and provides us insight so that we know how they feel and what they want. This captures what rock was in the '70s in a way few movies can. This is a love letter to rock and being sixteen. William's love of rock is in part a rebellion from his mother, but she's also the reason he's disciplined enough to remember why he's on tour. Everyone is pursuing a dream that might just lead to sobering realizations.
Watch It.

Review
I saw this not long after it released, but that was a long time and many movies ago. The film is semi-autobiographical, as Crowe was a teenage writer for Rolling Stone.

Elaine (Frances McDormand) is an overbearing mother that has taken protecting her kids too far. It's not just protection, she uses it as a means of control. Being a single mother contributes, but her rules aren't for the children, it's for her. That causes her daughter to rebel and eventually leave. Because of that, it's William's (Patrick Fugit) indirect window into rock and roll through his sister's record collection.

Kate Hudson plays Penny Lane

William befriends a local radio DJ to get his foot in the door as a writer. He's in high school, but the world is about to open to him. He's a sharp kid and a quick thinker which helps him befriend the band Stillwater. They think he's just some critic, but he proves he's a fan by knowing their names and their latest album. William is in way over his head. Listening to a band is much different from following them on the road. The incredibly charming Penny Lane (Kate Hudson) takes him under her wing. She's a tour veteran. Does she like William or is she just helpful? While he tries to play cool, it's clear he hasn't done this.

That's what is charming about this movie. We've been there, trying to fit in or belong. We know that awkwardness of trying to play off our ignorance. While William's mom was overbearing, she also created a foundation for William that prevents him from losing control when he has complete freedom on this tour. He's smart enough to not forget why he's there.

Billy Crudup, Patrick Fugit play Russell Hammond, William Miller

William manages to play his hand into writing for Rolling Stone due to his article for a local magazine. It's a feel good story up to this point. You want to see him succeed. He's a good kid that is living his dream, but there are plenty of temptations on the road. This story taps into something inherent in everyone, when you're sixteen, not quite an adult, but you want to be. William gets the chance to fake it, touring with a rock band. Rock and roll was certainly something bigger in the '70s than now. I don't want to sound trite, but rock music was an institution then.

William is writing an article on the band, but success is a threat to the band. Guitarist Russell is clearly the greater talent and that is fracturing the band. Russell knows he's better, but would feel guilty leaving. Russell is the elusive interview William struggles to obtain as his deadline looms. At the same time William wonders if Russell and Penny have a relationship, despite how she downplays the question.

Billy Crudup plays Russell Hammond

Rock is more than music. It's a state of mind, a lifestyle. This movie helps you feel that. Commercialism threatens to split the band, but it's the music that brings them back. Yes, this movie is a love letter to the music and to being sixteen, but I can't help but enjoy the youthful exuberance. William lives with these rock stars who are living their own dream of music, excess, and decadence.

There are a lot of characters in this movie and most of them are done well. You like them in spite of or because of their flaws. William's story about the band makes the cover, but with success comes infighting. Everything comes to a point, and all of William's work is denied and his dream is crushed in an instant so that the band can preserve their facade. This captures an energy and spirit, that time when you want to be an adult. William falls headfirst into a crazy adventure, while getting to be a journalist. By the end William, and many characters, have gotten an education. I'm not a fan of happy endings, and with this you're never quite sure how it will work out. With this movie, you reach a point that it doesn't matter how it ends. The journey has been more than worth it.