Review of Almost Famous (2000) by Michael L — 08 Jan 2012

I recently saw this again for the first time in five or six years. I had kind of forgotten that I really liked it after it's release.

Considering that I'm not usually the biggest fan of Cameron Crowe movies ("Jerry Maguire" & "Say Anything" are overrated in my book), I was pleasantly surprised to find that it still held up really well for me. In fact, things seemed even more poignant and nostalgic (in a good way) with the passage of time. The cast is great, especially Crudup as the "golden god" guitarist, Jason Lee as the self-imporatant frontman, McDormand as the very protective mother, and the always great Hoffman as Lester Bangs. Fugit is also wonderful as the lead. What happened to him after this???

Also, the fictional songs for the fictional band Stillwater during their concert scenes are just good enough that you believe they could have sold some LP's during the foogy days of early 70's rock.

Of course, the great soundtrack and great little references to the real musical titans of the era add to the warm and fuzzy feeling the film evokes.