Quase Famosos

Elaine (Frances McDormand) is an all-controlling weirdness mother in San Diego, and her daughter Anita (Zooey Deschanel) rebels running away. Elaine even lies to her son William Miller (Patrick Fugit) about his age skipping grades. Anita leaves behind her collection of records for him. Then forward to 1973, William is a 15 year old high school music geek who has written a few things for magazines. Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is his all-talk mentor. While trying to interview Black Sabbath, he befriends Band-aid Penny Lane (Kate Hudson). Then he meets Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup) and the band Stillwater. A few praises and he's in with the band. Then Rolling Stone magazine calls.

This is based on director Cameron Crowe's life as a young Rolling Stone reporter. As such, it has an air of truth in this fictional account. It hits all the correct notes. It is fun, poignant, and heart warming in all the right places. Kate Hudson is an instant star. The music is wonderful. It won the Oscar for best writing, but I would pick this over any of the best picture nominees. It is simply better than the best of that year.

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.

This film may have just one flaw- it aims too high. But that doesn't matter in this world. Here, we see the autobiographical tale of Cameron Crowe (writer/director and co-producer of this film) in his days as a young writer for Rolling Stone (one story I think) as seen by William Miller. He follows a rock band called Stillwater (much to mom's dismay played well by Frances McDormand) on a Almost Famous tour with rockers, groupies and bandaids. Real sweetness comes when the worlds of Miller and the band combine and dramedy kicks in. Quite the Crowe picture, one of his best ones, that takes a look at the days of rock when it was still cool to do drugs, have sex and be cool singing Elton John in a bus (that scene was the highlight). Band members include Billy Crudup, Jason Lee and others including Fairuza Balk, Anna Paquin, and in a exceptional performance, the free spirited Penny Lane played by Kate Hudson. This film is definately in my top 25 list of the year. A-

Almost Famous (2000)

**** (out of 4)

Cameron Crowe's masterpiece about high schooler William Miller (Patrick Fugit) who gets a job with Rolling Stone to do a story on an upcoming band named Stillwater. The young and naive kid gets to go out on the road with them where he quickly grows up and sees that the world isn't always perfect. ALMOST FAMOUS is one of the greatest coming of age movies ever made and it's perhaps the greatest love story to rock 'n roll ever filmed. I think a strong argument could also be made that it's the greatest film of the decade as well. There's so much love and passion during every single scene that you can't help but see and feel that this is Crowe's baby and it's easy to see why since much of this is based on his life growing up. This film contains so many terrific moments but I think what makes it so special are the various relationships that are built on the road. This includes William trying to mix it up with the band's guitar player (Billy Crudup) who refuses to give him an interview as well as the girl (Kate Hudson) that both of them love for different reasons. The overly worried mother (Frances McDormand) is perfectly written and thrown into the story for some comic relief but even the smaller characters are so well-written and detailed that by the time the movie is over it's almost like you've seen a documentary of a real band. Crowe's direction has never been better as this film has quite a bit of different emotions going for it yet he perfectly holds it together and really makes the film take off to levels one wouldn't expect. As a fan of rock and roll you have to love the behind-the-scenes look at a tour and the various problems that come from the sex and drugs. You also have to have fun and admire this young kid being able to go out on the road as this would be an ultimate dream job for many. The film mixes in some terrific music but the highlight is of course 'Tiny Dancer' from Elton John, which is without question one of the best and most magical scenes from any movie. The performances are all a major plus from the bigger acts to the smaller roles. Everyone fits their roles perfectly and help bring the story to life. ALMOST FAMOUS is a flawless picture that just keeps getting better with each new viewing. Some say the film is too soft and should have attacked the music harder or been more raw but I really disagree with these comments. The film is a love story to the music and one of the greatest out there.

Young Patrick Fugit, a talented juvenile writer, gets a once in a lifetime opportunity, to travel with a mid level rock band as a journalist. If the piece is good, Rolling Stone may pick it up and his career is made. Trying to pin the band down for an interview, especially the deliberately elusive leader, Billy Crudup is harder than you would think. These guys in the band Stillwater are Almost Famous, they're just a step away, but it's hard step to take.

Billy Crudup is one of the best players around today and it's his portrayal of Russell Hammond, lead singer of Stillwater on which the film pivots. It's a very complex role and we see all sides of Russell Hammond, talented, charismatic, loyal, self indulgent, hedonistic, it's all there and whole lot more. Just how honest can young Mr. Fugit be and where does being a fan stop and being a journalist start. Fugit may not know, but the band members keep asking the question.

Kate Hudson is around and does very well as the girl 'Penny Lane' who follows Stillwater. She's not a groupie, the term she prefers is Band Aide. And Frances McDormand is around as Fugit's mom who is constantly checking in on her son to see that he doesn't enjoy too much of the good life on the rock scene.

Almost Famous is a very graphic picture of the rock scene of the mid Seventies. Director Cameron Crowe did a great job capturing the mood of the times as well as good performances from the cast. Still it's Billy Crudup's picture and this is a must for his fans.