| Written by John Shea,
on 04-06-2000 08:00
|
Published in : Reviews, Movies |
Almost Famous is inspired by writer/director Cameron Crowe's own experiences writing for Rolling Stone magazine as a teenager. This could easily be a story of fancy and exaggeration but in Crowe's capable hands it is a charming coming of age story. You get the feeling that he is someone who's early perceptions were shaped by the music of that time. The movie is very much about the feel of that era and Crowe's obvious affection for it.
 The story is told from the perspective of William Miller (Patrick Fugit), an exceptionally bright fifteen year old boy. He's a couple years ahead in school thanks to his strange yet loving mother. He meets the legendary critic and Creem magazine editor Lester Bangs, hoping for advice. When William gets his chance to meet Lester, he absorbs a lot of advice about loving the music but keeping a distance from the band. Lester is impressed with him and commissions an article on Black Sabbath for the magazine.
William heads to a Sabbath concert and naively knocks at the back door asking to be let in for an interview. It doesn't work. He eventually does get in by impressing the opening act, fictional band Stillwater, with his knowledge of them and their music. Inside he gets to know the band and their followers. The groupies, who prefer to be called Band Aids, are held together by a young woman calling herself Penny Lane (Kate Hudson). She has developed a whole philosophy for following bands that has to do with love of the music and not sex. According to her they don't sleep with the musicians, they inspire them.
The band invites William up to Los Angeles for their next show. He starts to fall for Penny and starts to earn the trust of the band's guitar player, Russell (Billy Crudup). Rolling Stone, unaware he's only fifteen, offers William the chance to write an article and he proposes writing about Stillwater. They agree and send him on tour with the band.
Casting for this movie is just about perfect. Every major character is extremely well portrayed and fleshed out. Patrick Fugit makes an amazing feature film debut. He completely sells William as a real person. You can feel just how awestruck he is by the events and people surrounding him. You can feel that he is uncool and desperately wants to be accepted. He struggles heavily to walk that line between detached journalist and wanting to be popular. In the end though, he is accepted, not because he is cool but because he is so incredibly earnest.
Penny keeps saying that they aren't in the real world but for William, this is his crash course in the real world. His open face makes his inexperience painfully obvious but he struggles through with the occasional help of Bangs. He never stops trying to do his job even as Russell keeps putting off an interview. What neither seem to realize for a long time is that William is collecting everything he needs just by observing. The question is if his affection for the band will allow him to be as "honest and unmerciful" as Lester instructs him to be in his writing.
Kate Hudson is so charming that if not already married I would have fallen hopelessly in love. In her hands Penny seems to convey a wisdom far beyond her years. At the same time though she is deluding herself as to how the world sees and thinks about her. There is a great scene where this gets ripped away from her, forcing her to face reality. The pain is evident on her face as she bravely tries to crack a joke. Great stuff. William may be the main character but Penny is the film's soul.
If she is the soul then Philip Seymour Hoffman as Lester Bangs serves as it's moral guide. He warns William about making friends with the band. He knows all too well that they will try and corrupt him to get good coverage. He accurately predicts the sad result of mixing music as art with commercialism. His scenes are short and far between but Hoffman still manages to make a strong impression. Bangs comes off as a man who knows what he loves, knows what is good, isn't afraid to express his opinion and doesn't care what the rest of the world thinks. Essentially he makes the perfect critic. He also gets the best speeches that frame the movie's message about loving the music.
Frances McDormand is wonderful as William's mom. Her character is a college professor who tries to teach her kids to open their minds but simultaneously tries to shield them from much of the world. This character is equally funny, touching and scary. The phrase "Your mom kinda freaked me out" appears more than once in the movie and with good reason. She lets her son go on this tour even though she's terrified of all that can happen to him on it. You can see the fear tearing her up as the movie progresses. One of the movie's funniest scenes occurs when Russell talks to her on the phone thinking to have some fun with her. Instead he gets lectured so severely that he starts timidly responding, "Yes, ma'am" to her. If she doesn't get a Best Supporting Actress nomination for this performance something is horribly wrong.
The rest of the cast are all excellent. Billy Crudup's Russell is clearly the leader of Stillwater, although this isn't necessarily something that makes the band happy. He's good and knows it, which can make his attitude towards others somewhat callous. Crudup gives him the appropriate cocky attitude but it evaporates when things go badly. Underneath you can see a guy who really doesn't know what he's doing and that scares him. Compliments also go out to Fairuza Balk and Anna Paquin as two other groupies touring with the band. They don't get to say a lot but its important when they do.
As someone who, much like William, stumbled into entertainment journalism by accident, it was impossible not to relate to the story. William does what he does out of love for the material. His proximity to it could easily make him bitter but that love stays on. Lester's speech toward the end of the movie perfectly captures the spirit that causes William to head off with the band and caused me to form this site. It's that deep love, respect and affection for the material that saturates Crowe's movie and makes it so powerful. The movie is about music but it applies to just about any other form of entertainment. If you have ever truly loved a song or a band or a movie then you owe it to yourself to see this. I said it's soul was Penny and that's exactly right. She was all about loving the music and so is this movie.
- John Shea
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