Overall Rating
  Awesome: 59.83%
Worth A Look: 20.92%
Just Average: 10.88%
Pretty Crappy: 2.51%
Sucks: 5.86%
15 reviews, 149 user ratings
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| Almost Famous |
by Vibeseeker
"Ultimate ‘access all areas’ pass into rock n roll Valhalla."
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Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll; it’s the stuff of legend. But after Spinal Tap disintegrated it into a ridiculed mythology of clichés –what is there left to say? With Cameron Crowe’s formative years spent as a seventies Rolling Stone magazine scribe, you’d think he’d have a few stories to tell, none better than his own.With Crowe’s script based on his teenage Rolling Stone adventures, Almost Famous is a ballad to his love of music (as well as a sonnet to journalism). Played out through the eyes of young William Miller (newcomer Fugit), the film follows Miller’s on-the-road journey with rock group Still Water. While his manically protective mother opposes his adventure into a brave new world, he has several guides: an aloof lead guitarist (Crudup), a tender groupie temptress, called Penny Lane (Hudson), and the Obi-Wan Kenobi of rock journalism, Lester Bangs (Hoffman).
With Crowe the wide-eyed observer, Miller’s journey is splendidly brought to life by the director’s impassioned detail: outfits, hair, sideboards, music, a brief appearance by a scampering Ziggy Stardust, and a look-a-like Humble Pie (Although, Still Water, look and sound more like 70’s rockers Free, than Led Zeppelin, whom they’re inspired by). It’s very much a complete resurrection of the soul of the seventies rock scene.
The very famous Brad Pitt pulled out of the project at the eleventh hour, and it proves a blessing in disguise - there is no overshadowing of what are cracking performances from the almost famous ensemble of Crudup, Hoffman, McDormand and the alluring Hudson.
The warm heart and lack of sensationalism in Crowe’s homage to his halcyon days is the key to the film’s success. There’s no agenda, Crowe has no axe to grind, it just good times – a pure celebration of adolescence discovery and liberation. The groupies or ‘Band aids’ are portrayed as sisters in the on road family, rather than vice-riddled hanger-ons. Still Water are very much good boys at heart, devoid of the traditional hotel room wrecking madness of the Who or Led Zeppelin (who both contribute to the film’s great soundtrack). While the majority of the humour -despite some guitarist/ lead singer ego battle, Spinal Tap moments ("I'M the lead singer, and YOU'RE the guitarist with mystique.") - comes from the sentimental source of the kid’s mum (played with whacked out brilliance by McDormand).
Despite a pit-stop stomach pump, there are no rock and roll casualties in Crowe’s world. Through his rose tinted spectacles, Crowe’s vision takes you closer.It touches the very essence of music sentimentality; the crackle of vinyl, the collection of torn gig ticket stubs, the feeling of belonging. In short, it’s the ultimate ‘access all areas’ pass into rock n roll Valhalla. David Michael
link directly to this review at https://www.hollywoodbitchslap.com/review.php?movie=3454&reviewer=251
originally posted: 04/12/01 20:03:46
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USA
22-Sep-2000 (R)
DVD: 04-Dec-2001
UK
N/A
Australia
22-Feb-2001 (M)
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