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ALMOST FAMOUS (2000)
WHERE DID I PUT THOSE LED ZEPPELIN ALBUMS?
a movie review by Luc-Rock Paquin
SO MANY MOVIES, SO LITTLE TIME
The weeks leading to the Academy Awards are always very exciting for me. Once the nominations are announced, I only have a few weeks left to try and see as many Oscar-nominated films as possible. There's always a bunch of them I haven't seen during the year, either because I didn't think it would be interesting or I just didn't have time to see the movie. Almost Famous is part of the latter.
The theatrical trailer was interesting enough. Wonder boy follows rock group across the country and falls in love with fun girl. Plus, there's sex, drugs and rock'n'roll. What's not interesting about that? On top of that, the movie was written and directed by Cameron Crowe (Singles, Jerry Maguire) and starred Frances McDormand (Fargo) and Jason Lee (Mallrats, Chasing Amy).
Let's start by saying that I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. Since I had missed its theatrical run, it was now in competition with hundreds of other videos I wanted to watch. However, since it was nominated for a few Oscars, I decided to rent it, so that I would have an edge in my Oscar pool.
TOUCHING STORY
To put it simply, Almost Famous made me want to listen to all my Led Zeppelin albums that were now just collecting dust. Writer-director Cameron Crowe really knows how to tell a story that is both simple and complex, fictional, but believable, funny, yet heartbreaking. The movie starts off rather gently, as we witness the children of widowed Elaine Miller (McDormand) grow up in a strict and unconventional household. Elaine's oldest, Anita (Zooey Deschanel), is a child of the 60's and wants to experience life, but is unable to deal with her mother's rules and reasoning, which causes her to leave home as soon as she's able to.
Frances McDormand |
Fortunately, Elaine still has a strong influence on her young boy, William (played brilliantly by newcomer Patrick Fugit). William is a gifted child who has to suffer the humiliation of being two years younger than most of his classmates. Everything changes for William when he discovers a passion for music and writing. When William is offered the chance of a lifetime — to write an article for Rolling Stone Magazine — Elaine doesn't want to be the one to stand between him and his dream.
NOT JUST ANOTHER "COMING OF AGE" STORY
That is where the movie gets really interesting. We follow William in his adventure across America as he chronicles Stillwater's 1973 tour (a fictional band, although a band of the same name once existed), and we see him "coming of age" (it's a cliché, but it's still true). He embarks in this adventure as a naive young boy, but he is soon confronted with the ugly reality of rock'n'roll: the drugs, the lying, and the hard life of touring. To make matters worse, he is befriended by the young and beautiful "Penny Lane" (Kate Hudson), who is enamoured with Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup), the band's lead singer. Young William not only falls in love with Penny, which is bad enough, but he also falls in love with the rock'n'roll life. At school, he was always cast away, but now that he's a reporter (and for Rolling Stone, no less), he is instantly cool. But as is often reminded by his mentor Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman), he is "uncool". By the end of the movie, William has grown tremendously, both emotionally and professionally. He has seen the "dark side" of the business, he has fallen in and out of love, but that has only made him stronger as a person. The theme is echoed from Cameron's Jerry Maguire.
Patrick Fugit and Kate Hudson |
AMAZING SUPPORTING CAST
One of the greatest aspects of this movie is the amazing supporting cast. The most amazing performance no doubts is that of Kate Hudson. I had seen her in both Desert Blue and 200 Cigarettes, but I had never noticed her. It would be impossible to miss her in Almost Famous, since she's the glue that holds it together. Hudson has a "Drew Barrymore"-like charm that is just captivating. I'm sorry that she was unable to take home the little golden guy, but I'm sure that she'll get other chances. We'll also see her in Shekhar Kapur's Four Feathers (Kapur also directed 1998's critically-acclaimed Elizabeth).
Philip Seymour Hoffman |
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Magnolia, Boogie Nights, The Talented Mr. Ripley) is also great as Lester Bangs, William's mentor. His character is charismatic and reeks of honesty. As Banfs watches his protégé's rapid ascension in rock journalism, he is both supportive and jealous. Hoffman juggles with emotions and never drops a ball.
Another interesting actress is Fairuza Balk (American History X, The Waterboy), who plays Sapphire, one of the "groupies" or "Band Aid member". While the part isn't all that great, she does have a few great scenes ("This is the maid speaking, by the way") and I hope to see more of this actress in the future. She has been relegated to small roles long enough.
Anna Paquin and Fairuza Balk |
Finally, I'm sad to say that Anna Paquin's talent has been completely wasted in this movie. Her role is way too unimportant for her. Maybe she really wanted to do this film, but it's almost distracting to see her on screen portraying "Polexia Aphrodesia" (one of the groupies), because I kept expecting her to have some pivotal role in the plot, which she does not. However, I have to say that she plays her part well, so there's my consolation prize.
Now, as I write this review, I have to ask myself: As a movie critic, am I the enemy? Let's hope not.
Reviewed on April 3, 2001
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Directed by
Cameron Crowe
Written by
Cameron Crowe
Cast
Billy Crudup
Frances McDormand
Kate Hudson
Jason Lee
Patrick Fugit
Zooey Deschanel
Michael Angarano
Noah Taylor
John Fedevich
Mark Kozelek
Fairuza Balk
Anna Paquin
Olivia Rosewood
Jimmy Fallon
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Produced by
Ian Bryce
Cameron Crowe
Marty P. Ewing
Scott M. Martin
Steven P. Saeta
Lisa Stewart
Jerry Ziesmer
Music
Nancy Wilson
Cinematography
John Toll
Film Editing
Joe Hutshing
Saar Klein
Casting
Gail Levin
Production Design
Clay A. Griffith
Clayton Hartley
Art Direction
Virginia Randolph-Weaver
Set Decoration
Robert Greenfield
Costume Design
Betsy Heimann
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