Almost Famous (2000)

Director:

Cameron Crowe

Writer (WGA):

Cameron Crowe (written by)

Release Date:

13 September 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Music

Tagline:

Experience it. Enjoy it. Just don't fall for it.

Plot:

A high-school boy is given the chance to write a story for Rolling Stone Magazine about an up-and-coming rock band as he accompanies it on their concert tour.

Plot Keywords:

Tour | Rolling Stone Magazine | Rock Band | Coming Of Age | High School

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 44 wins & 76 nominations

Cast

Billy Crudup	...	Russell Hammond
Frances McDormand	...	Elaine Miller
Kate Hudson	...	Penny Lane
Jason Lee	...	Jeff Bebe
Patrick Fugit	...	William Miller
Zooey Deschanel	...	Anita Miller
Michael Angarano	...	Young William
Anna Paquin	...	Polexia Aphrodisia
Fairuza Balk	...	Sapphire
Noah Taylor	...	Dick Roswell
John Fedevich	...	Ed Vallencourt
Mark Kozelek	...	Larry Fellows
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Lester Bangs
Liz Stauber	...	Leslie
Jimmy Fallon	...	Dennis Hope

Also Known As:

Something Real (USA) (working title)
Stillwater (USA) (working title)
The Uncool (USA) (working title)
Untitled Cameron Crowe Project (USA) (working title)
Untitled: Almost Famous the Bootleg Cut (USA) (director's cut (DVD title))

MPAA:

Rated R for language, drug content and brief nudity.

Runtime:

122 min | USA:162 min (director's cut) | Croatia:152 min (DVD extended cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Brazil:12 | Italy:T | Ireland:15 | Philippines:R-18 | Norway:15 (video rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA (original rating) | Australia:M (re-rating on appeal) | Canada:14A | Canada:G (Québec) | Chile:14 | Denmark:7 | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Iceland:12 | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M | Norway:11 | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:18 | Spain:7 | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #37614) | USA:Unrated (director's cut) | Singapore:R(A) (censored version) (original rating) | Singapore:M18 (cut) (re-rating)

Filming Locations:

Ambassador Hotel - 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures

Trivia:

The film is director Cameron Crowe's semi-autobiographical account of life as a young Rolling Stone reporter. The actual group that Crowe first toured with was The Allman Brothers Band. (Gregg Allman was the one who distrusted him and kept asking if he was a narc.) Crowe's real-life near-fatal plane crash happened while traveling with The Who. The character of Russell Hammond is based on Glenn Frey of Eagles.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: During the storm, the plane's engines are not audible, as if they were shut down. When the engines whine up again, the piston engines have acquired turbofans.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Elaine Miller: I can't believe you wanna be Atticus Finch. Oh, that makes me feel so good.
Young William: I like him.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Entourage: One Day in the Valley (#3.2)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Paranoid

Believable and breathtaking view of rock'n'roll in the '70's.

On a rating scale of 0 to 100; I gave Almost Famous a score of 95.

One of the most critically acclaimed movie experiences of the year 2000, Almost Famous is the second feature film to come out Cameron Crowe, and he beats his first effort, Jerry Maguire by a mile. Almost Famous is a stunning, thought-provoking film that comes at you directly from the eye of the camera and hits you with a hard bang. It's a movie not only for people who love 70's rock bands, but for all movie-goer's who really love the feeling of coming out of the cinema feeling totally fulfilled.

A 15 year old boy named William Miller (Patrick Fugit) gets an opportunity to travel with a rock band, Stillwater on a 1973 tour. As a younger boy, his sister (Zooey Deschanel) and his widowed mother Elaine (Frances McDormand) had fought about the mother's control over the family and her denial of rock music. The sister leaves home and leaves the young boy her record collection, which immediately seizes his attention. As a teen, he makes record reviews for an underground newspaper. He submits those to Creem magazine writer Lester Bangs (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) and gets his attention. The two become fast friends and Bangs acts as his mentor as Rolling Stone magazine comes calling. Slipping into an inner group connected with Stillwater, Rolling Stone agrees to bankroll him on a trip with the group. There he meets the "Band Aids", a group of girls that refuse to be called groupies because they are dedicated only to specific bands. "Penny Lane" (Kate Hudson), the Band Aid's leader is enamored with the group leader (Billy Crudup), but befriends the teen. He responds with complete infatuation with her, but he is equally enamored with the charismatic guitarist. While accepted by the band (other members are Jason Lee, John Fedevich and Mark Kozeleck), they nonetheless refer to him as "the enemy - a rock critic".

The film is classically cool and endlessly enjoyable, making it by far one of the top 5 movies of last year. The film boasts absolutely incredible performances, Patrick Fugit is a newcomer and has terrific potential, Frances McDormand is emotionally stunning as an over-protective mother and Billy Crudup, who I underrated at first, gives a performance of believability and power. However, it comes as no surprise that the film's acting star is Kate Hudson, daughter of Goldie Hawn. Hudson gives a masterful performance as Penny Lane, she pulls off all Lane's facial expressions effortlessly brilliantly, and God knows she is one of the most stunning young performers of her current time, and she gives one of the most memorably exciting performances of 2000. Cameron Crowe gets a big pat on the back too for arranging the movie delicately and with absolute dedication.

Cameron Crowe's instant classic is a hard one to beat, and is surely the closest thing we have to a perfect `rock movie' these days. Absolutely unmissable.