Written and Directed by:  Cameron Crowe
Starring:  Patrick Fugit, Billy Crudup, Kate Hudson,  Frances McDormand, Jason Lee
 

November 13, 2000

         Let’s face it, the 70’s was about sex, drugs and rock & roll.  I mean isn’t that the cliché?  And the good times weren’t all they were cracked up to be.  Well, that’s what Cameron Crowe’s new film Almost Famous tells us about the 70’s.
         Like the cult film This is Spinal Tap made by Rob Reiner over a decade ago in the 80’s, Almost Famous follows a fictionalized band through the 70’s.  Rather we follow the band through the eyes of William Miller, a 15 yr. old kid who gets a job writing for Rolling Stone.  He begins to immortalize Russell Hammond (Crudup) and falls in love with "bandaid," not groupie, Penny Lane.
         Almost Famous is a coming of age story for William.  But unlike films like Dazed and Confused, and even the show The Wonder Years, this one feels forced.   Sure, he touches on these rockers, especially Russell, wanting to be real. But at the end it feels too movie-like, especially the confessional airplane scene. 
         Crowe's prone to doing soundtrack films. Who can forget his use of Peter Gabriel's "In your Eyes" in Say Anything?  Crowe made Say Anything in the 80's, which captured the feeling of not belonging and young love, and had a nostalgic feel of the 80's to it. Then of course the whole Singles soundtrack is just awesome, with mixes of the 90's and the 70's, Pearl Jam, Hendrix, a rendition of a Zeppelin song, Smashing Pumpkins, etc.  Singles caught the "singles" relationship life of the 90's.  In Almost Famous, the music is too in your face, too obvious. The characters in the film talk about how great Led Zeppelin, and other bands are, then he uses their music just as a background. 
        Crowe isn’t the best director, but his films are fun to watch.  Almost Famous falls somewhere in between almost good and almost fun.  It might be better to sit this one out and just buy the soundtrack, cause in a way, that’s what we’re left with, a soundtrack film.

Alternative Recommendations:  Singles, Say Anything, Jerry Maguire (all w & d: Crowe), This is Spinal Tap, Dazed and Confused, Fargo (s:McDormand)

-Reviewed in Theater-

Nominated for
2 Fidelio Film Awards