Film Review: Almost Famous (directed by Cameron Crowe, 2000)

Almost Famous is a semi-autobiographical account of writer/director Cameron Crowe's experiences as a young journalist touring with a rock band. The story on its most basic level is a typical coming-of-age story: a young man, William Miller (played by Patrick Fugit), goes through a life changing experience while touring with the band Stillwater, and eventually both loses innocence and becomes a stronger person because of it. What makes Almost Famous much more charming than most coming-of-age films is that Crowe shows an intimacy with the film that the audience can almost feel. This isn't just a story to Crowe, this is his story, and more importantly, one of the defining times in his life. It's not often that directors get to work with such a story and can make it as intimate and interesting as Crowe does.

The story here could not be told effectively without the excellently-casted ensemble of actors and actresses who put as much energy into their characters as Crowe puts into the story. Frances McDormand, as William's overprotective mother, is equally sympathetic, antagonistic, and comedic, and easily steals the scene when she is in it. Playing William's other mentor, Philip Seymour Hoffman as Lester Bangs is another minor character standout who is as entertaining as he is wise to what William is about to experience.

Stillwater is led by lead singer Jeff Bebe (played by Jason Lee) and "guitarist with mystique" Russell Hammond (played by Billy Crudup). These characters go through a lot of growth in the film, especially Russell, through fights, injuries, and band-related trials and successes, all while William takes it all in. William's relationship with and attempts to interview Russell are major driving forces of the film, and Fugit and Crudup have some decent chemistry.

The catalyst of this chemistry is Penny Lane (played by Kate Hudson). The groupie that the entire film revolves around. She is incredibly charming and attractive, or at least that's what the characters assert over and over. She seems more like a maguffin, driving the plot and shaping the relationship between Russell and William. Maybe this isn't completely fair, and Penny's character does develop more towards the end, but while Hudson's performance is good, the audience never really sees what William and other characters find so enchanting.

Oh, and then there's William, almost forgotten in the midst of a dozen colorful characters. William is a blank slate, being shaped by the forces around him. He's earnest, naive, and all-around decent, essentially how most people see themselves (or younger versions of themselves). William is an accessible protagonist because of this but not an especially interesting one. This is not a weakness, but the main contributor to the intimate feel of the story.

Rock music in the 70s is a setting rather than theme of this film, and the soundtrack and production design create a very believable atmosphere. Crowe's wife Nancy Wilson and friend Peter Frampton created out of a few actors without much musical experience a band that is almost real. A lot of passion obviously went into Almost Famous, and this is what makes it worth watching.