Almost Famous (2000)-"R"

Run Time:122 minutes

3 and 1/2 stars out of 4

Cameron Crowe is still a relatively inexperianced filmmaker, having directed only 4 movies up to this point, with another one on the way. However, he has already directed such successful films as Jerry Maguire in 1995 and now Almost Famous in 2000, which gives Crowe great promise for future successes. Almost Famous, however is particularly a triumph for Crowe, being one of the most solidly enjoyable films I've seen this year. Set in 1970's San Francisco, our main character is a young man named William Miller (played by Patrick Fugit), only 15 years old, but already a senior in high school. Living with his overprotective college professor mother, Elaine (Frances McDormand), William is turned on to rock music by his older sister, Anita (Zooey Deschanel), who is departing with her boyfriend to become a stewardess and escape her mother's authority. William is a very smart boy, somewhat shunned by his schoolmates for his intellectual superiority and three years lesser age, but is very mature for fifteen, and with a talent for writing, rock music reviews in particular. William gets noticed by Rolling Stone magazine for his articles in Creem magazine, and is invited over the phone to accompany the up-and-coming band Stillwater on a road trip, and write in an article at the end. William accepts, and, amazingly, so does his possessive mother. Against the advice of his mentor, Creem editor Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman), William becomes friends with Stillwater's lead singer, Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup), and the two share a highly eventful and memorable tour together. They also share a love for a Stillwater groupie (or Band-Aid as she prefers to be called), Lady Fellows, but who's known only as Penny Lane to William, Stillwater, and everyone else she meets while touring. William all along realizes that he will eventually have to publish everything he knows about the band, which probably won't make Stillwater look very good to the public at all, but keeps putting off this worry in his mind. In the end he will have to choose to write an honest article and expose Stillwater's troubled band members, or follow Russell's wishes and "just make them look cool". This film is powerful, poignant, truthful, and has an excellent 70's rock soundtrack. Crowe's screenplay is fantastic, with witty dialogue, believability, and a great ability to identify with the audience, either former or current teenagers. Despite a few comic punchlines that I thought were somewhat formulated, this movie comes across as sincere.