Almost Famous Review
by Chad Polenz (ChadPolenz AT aol DOT com)October 7th, 2000
Almost Famous
There's a scene towards the end of "Almost Famous" wherein the main character, William, is sitting at his typewriter with a terrible case of writer's block. He's just been on a great adventure touring America with a popular rock band and even with all the experiences he's gone through he still can't figure out how to begin to write about it.
I'm kind of in the same position myself. I've put off writing this review for two weeks, due partly to the fact I'm a lazy schmuck. Then again, a lot of it has to do with the fact "Almost Famous" is a film that makes you think about it for quite a while after you've seen it (both the flaws and the good
points).
The movie tells the story of a 15-year-old boy named William Miller who's an accelerated student and is a natural writing wiz. The setting is San Diego in 1973 and he's a huge rock and roll fan who's witnessing first-hand the changes the music is undergoing at the time. He's hired by Lester Bangs, the editor of Creem Magazine, to cover a Black Sabbath concert. His work is so impressive an editor at Rolling Stone offers him a high-paying job to do an in-depth piece on an up-and-coming rock band named Stillwater. William takes the job (much to his mother's refusal) and proceeds to experience the music lifestyle very personally. In a few weeks he gains more life experience than some people do their entire lives.
Writer and director Cameron Crowe made this film as a sort of autobiographical piece. He was writing for Rolling Stone when he was a teen and toured with some big bands in the early 70's. You certainly get that feeling of authenticity when it comes to the rock lifestyle. But this is also a commercial dramedy and character study plays a major role in how it works. There is no real plot to speak of, just experiences. I'm not sure what stuff actually happened to Crowe and what has been plugged in for the sake of a big Hollywood movie, but for the most part it all works well.
Crowe's films all have an emotional center to them, and "Almost Famous" certainly doesn't stray from that formula. Not one major character or major characteristic dominates - it's a push-and-pull, give-and-take, yin-and-yang amalgam.
William is the straight guy for the majority of the film, trying to be a true journalist and staying out of the story but it's impossible to do that completely. He meets Penny Lane, a teenage rock groupie who truly loves the music and isn't out to be the dish all the rockers fall for. She's shallow in some respects but quite deep in others. She reminds me of the Jenny character from "Forrest Gump" - a slave to the flesh's desires and temptations but she still has some heart and truly cares about those close to her. There's Russell Hammond, the lead guitarist for the fictional band Stillwater who likes Penny a lot but doesn't have a lot of direction in his life. He thinks he's better than his bandmates and doesn't seem to appreciate a lot of things he should.
Not surprisingly there's a sort of love triangle going on between these three characters. Penny is a mysterious and charming girl, it's easy to see why William likes her but why Russell does isn't explained very well. This is one of the film's biggest flaws. One of the major plot arcs involves Penny and her other teenage friends who go with Stillwater everywhere. You have to wonder why these men in their late 20's like having teenage girls around so much (they don't come off as perverts or anything). You also wonder what the girls' home lives are like that they would leave their families to be with rock stars. Chalk it up to the fact it's the early 70's and it was just part of the time, or that teenage girls have always loved celebrities and would probably do anything to be with them. I'll take that as a given but I think Crowe could have explained this just a little better (the closest we get is a scene in which Penny tells William her real name).
The majority of the film revolves around William's adventure with the band. It 's a backstage look at what it's like to be in a struggling rock band. They're doing what they love but they haven't "made it" yet (hence the title). They live the rock lifestyle so perfectly it's a cliche, but the scenes are so genuinely good it's forgivable. Yup, there's quite a lot of references to alcohol, drugs, promiscuous sex and the sheer decadence of it all. Surprisingly it's not as abrasive as you would think - probably because Stillwater is a progressive rock band, not a hardcore metal band or anything like that. They are basically normal guys who happen to play music for a
living.
And that's what "Almost Famous" is really about - the music. More specifically, the great prog-rock of years gone by. Crowe is a huge rock fan and has used it well in all his previous films, here it's a film all about rock and none of it is gratuitous. I felt like this film was made just for me and my friends who love "classic rock" (no references to Pink Floyd or Rush - my favorite bands!). Crowe simply basks in the beauty of the music. An excellent example of this is the final sequence that closes the film. Led Zeppelin's "Tangerine" is playing in the background when the scene ends and the screen fades to black. Instead of cross-fading to a different song or abruptly ending it, the screen remains black for a good 10 or 20 seconds so that the piece may finish - THEN the credits roll. This is also the first movie EVER to feature a Led Zeppelin song on the soundtrack (four of them actually), that tells you how authetic it must be if Robert Plant and Jimmy Page okayed the use of their music.
Not that this film is perfect, upon seeing it a second time I noticed many flaws. The scene in which all the band members reveal their secrets seems contrived and forced. I also noticed a lot of unnecessary little scenes and shots and some of the editing appears choppy. Newcomer Patrick Fuqit is pretty good as the innocent William but the scenes in which he has to express true emotion are awkward especially since Billy Crudup, Kate Hudson, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Frances McDormand are so excellent in their roles.
Still, there's a lot of great things to say about "Almost Famous." It's enjoyable from start to finish, refreshingly original and funny and dramatic at the same time. It IS about the music, man!
GRADE: B+
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