Review of Almost Famous (2000) by Movie G — 20 Mar 2011

Well it's my 100th review so I thought I'd do a 100% review.

Why the hell did I wait so long to see this? I'd always heard of Almost Famous, but never really thought about it. I finally bought it in a bargain bin and it is by far one of the greatest movies I've ever seen.

Almost Famous is about William Miller, a 15 year kid who just so happens to write rock journalism. When heis given a chance by Rolling Stone to write for them, he goes on tour with Stillwater, an up and coming band on the brink of the success, hence Almost Famous, but he soon finds that there are more things for the band to worry about than to celebrate. The entire band is on the rocks. They fight constantly. The other members are mad because the guitarist gets all the attention, the guitarist is too distracted by a groupie he's fallen in love with, all bad stuff.

What makes Almost Famous such an enjoyable movie is not only that it's heartwarming, but what it says about music. The whole movie is really just a metaphor for the freedom that music brings, about how it can take you away and get rid of all your problems, and as a musician myself I found this incredibly relateable.

Almost Famous is also really a coming of age story. It's about a kid who leaves home excited but comes back having seen it all. He's had friendships, he's had fun. he's fell in love, but he's also had heartbreak, seen best friends become bitter enemies, and nearly died in the process. It's quite intersting to see his change through the movie. His general attitude it much more mature and less dorky toward that fact that he's with famous people, but even his writing and interviews become much more proffesional as he see's what the band sees. If there was any film I've ever seen that could define the term coming of age story, it's this (Sorry Stand By Me but this one bumps you out of that title).

The movie also wouldn't be as good withput it's incredible ensemble cast. Patrick Fugit plays William, and he's great. While he isn't given many scenes to really highlight his emoions, he's usually just in the background listening and absorbing, he is believable. Sometimes silence is golden, or the case of this movie "A GOLDEN GOD!". Kate Hudson plays Penny Lane, Stillwater's groupie, and the girl that William loves. She's a free spirit who dedicates her life to guitar player Russell Hammond, who treats her like crap. Wtahc the scene where she find out she's been sold to Humble Pie, it's brilliant. It's a truly sad part of the film, to see her almost kill herself because she loves loves, but be saved by William who loves her. Making it even worse is that William sort of loves Russell. Russell is the only member of the band who really talks to him and treats him like someone other than a writer, making it hard for William to try and take his girl. Hudson does a stellar job and it's easily a career best performance for her. Billy Crudup plays Russell the guitar player, and he's my personal favourite. He's the most believable of any of the characters. I can't exactly explain why he's so great, you just kind of like him. But then again you also kind of hate him. It's a great dynamic and makes him an interesting character. Jason Lee plays lead singer Jeff Bebe and he's also great aswell. One thing I can say is they got the way they look all right, from the long hair and the beards to their general onstage movements, you believe that they're rock stars. Frances McDormand is also great as William's crazy, overprotective mother, and we also get a small but fantastic performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman as Lester Bangs, writer for Creem magazine and mentor to William.

One thing that also adds to the rock star dynamic is the music. All of Stillwater's music was written by Crowe, a rock expert, Ann & Nancy Wilson of Heart, and Peter Frampton. It's awesome because it actually sounds like 70s rock music, and it's good 70s rock music at that. It's not really trying to emulate any band of the era, it's just trying to be it's own and no other movie would ever try that.

The film also has an additional 50 plus song soundtrack of other rock classics. It's probably the best soundtrack since Dazed & Confused. It's got everything great that's mentioned through the movie like The Allman Brothers Band, The Stooges, Yes, and notably Led Zeppelin who it is incredibly hard to license music from, I think this is only the second movie I've seen that coul get it. The most famous one is the use of Elton John's Tiny Dancer, probably one of the greatest uses of pop music in film history. It's right after the band has just had a huge fight and are all sitting on the bus not talking, but it comes on and they all start singing it, and it just makes them happier. It again adds to that metaphor, no matter what your problems are, music can help you forget about them.

Cameron Crowe's screenplay is also impeccable. The dialogue is all spot on, and it's also hilarious when it needs to be, but it's also dripping with realism, thanks to the fact that as a teenager, Crowe actually was a writer for Rolling Stone and toured around with every band imagineable. All of the stuff is based off real things, like the untrustworthy bandmates calling him a narc, based off the Allman Brothers Band, and the near plane crash, based off The Who, and Crowe was there to live it all, and this movie is clearly his labour of love, his dream project, and his masterpiece.

As a director Crowe excels as well. Having already made a name for himself with classics liek Say Anything and Jerry Maguire, Crowe wasn't just some writer who wanted to make a movie abouth is life, he is a full fledged director and knows what he's doing. The whole movie is technically brilliant. The camerawork is fantastic and as is everyting else, but to lead such a large and talented ensemble cast is quite a job, and Crowe masters it pulling out the best performances possible from every actor.

Almost Famous is one the most touching, well made, brilliant, funny, and relateable movies I've ever seen. Cameron Crowe did a hell of a job with this movie and created what is not only arguably the best movie I saw from the 2000s, but one of the 10 greatest movie I've ever seen. Almost Famous is a movie that just about anyone could like, so I highly recommend you all check it out.