Set in the early seventies and the time of endlessly touring British and American concept rock bands and told through the eyes of high school kid and wannabe rock journalist William Miller, the movie follows the lives of the up-and-coming fictionalised rock band Stillwater and one of their most special fans, Miss Penny Lane (the excellent Kate Hudson). Whether you were around in the seventies and remember this era (I wasn’t and I don’t) it is hard not to be moved be this rock odyssey as the band move from town to town, squabble to squabble and we watch William grow.
This has everything you’d expect from a movie about a rock band, girls, drink, drugs, fighting and general excessive bad behaviour but it skilfully avoids ever falling into cliché because the characters here are not just rock stars or groupies, they are real people, with human weaknesses and human strengths. Crowe’s writing and direction are both subtle and beguiling and he draws extraordinary performances out of all the main leads including Billy Crudup (as lead guitarist and charismatic star of Stillwater), Kate Hudson (as Penny Lane), young Patrick Fugit (as William) and great supporting turns from the finest young character alive at this moment, Philip Seymour Hoffman (as legendary rock journo. Lester Bangs) and Frances McDormand, as William’s overprotective mother.
I must admit to being a big fan of Cameron Crowe’s work ever since seeing Say Anything and Jerry Maguire and unlike the, by all accounts, very disappointing Vanilla Sky, Almost Famous is up there with Crowe’s finest work. Great romance, great humour and great warmth, this semi-autobiographical movie has it all in bucket loads and if this doesn’t warm the cockles of your heart their aint much hope left for you I’m afraid.
Cast
- Patrick Fugit as William Miller
- Billy Crudup as Russell Hammond
- Frances McDormand as Elaine Miller
- Kate Hudson as Penny Lane
- Jason Lee as Jeff Bebe
- Zooey Deschanel as Anita Miller
- Anna Paquin as Polexia Aphrodisia
- Philip Seymour Hoffman as Journalist Lester Bangs
- Fairuza Balk as Sapphire
- Noah Taylor as Dick Roswell
- Mark Kozelek as Larry Fellows
- John Fedevich as Ed Vallencourt
- Jimmy Fallon as Dennis Hope
- Bijou Phillips as Estrella Starr
- Terry Chen as Ben Fong-Torres
Tags: Almost Famous