"The film's about a band, a girl, a mother
all these people realising that they've reached one person – William." (Cameron Crowe – director and winner of the Best Screenplay Oscar for this film)*
'Almost Famous' follows the story of 15 year-old music fanatic, William Miller (Patrick Fugit), growing up in the 70's. His love of music leads him to his ultimate ambition, to be a music journalist. This is much to the disapproval of his overbearing, widowed mother (Frances McDormand), whose neurotic ways have already driven his older sister away to become a stewardess. One day William is fortunate enough to meet Lester Bangs (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), a successful journalist and editor of 'Creem' magazine, who sees William's passion and offers him $35 to write his first article on Black Sabbath. Having no pass, William can't even meet the band, but it is here that famous band aid, Penny Lane (Kate Hudson) and 'Stillwater', an up-and-coming rock band, enter his life. Then, William (posing as an 18 year old) gets the golden opportunity to write for Rolling Stone magazine about Stillwater. He is told firmly by Lester, "do not make friends with the rock stars", but the experiences he shares with them throughout the film give William some of his most valuable lessons on life, although by no means do things go as he would have expected. William's innocence and naivety make him a lovable character and easy to identify with, an excellent performance given by Fugit in his film debut.
In the film, the band represents a change from the hippie, peace-loving lifestyle of the 60's to the beginnings of the money-making, fame-hungry music industry we know today. They constantly profess that it is "all about the music", but behind this is a bitter quest for fame between the band members. This is shown through their disregard for William and also through the relationship between the guitarist Russell (Billy Crudup) and Penny Lane. Penny is brilliantly played by Hudson as a beautiful, carefree young woman, the object of every man's affection (including William), but beneath this "cool" demeanour, the 16 year old Penny is just as naive and vulnerable as him. All of these mixed, negative emotions in the film contrast with the cinematography, which encapsulates a warm, dreamlike quality of nostalgia surrounding the 70's rock music scene. When you watch the film it almost makes you want to be back there, experiencing it for yourself.
What makes Almost Famous intriguing is that it is a semi-autobiographical film, with William playing a young Cameron Crowe – who is the youngest journalist to write for the renowned Rolling Stone magazine. The fictional band "Stillwater" replaces a few of the famous musicians interviewed by Crowe in real-life; Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Lynard Skynard an impressive list for anyone, let alone someone so young.
The best thing I could do to sum up the film would be to play you the soundtrack, which would tell you everything you need to know. A quote from Patrick Fugit describes perfectly why you should watch it:
"You can tell it's a Cameron Crowe movie, because you can't really put it in a category of comedy, drama it has a certain quality that you just like to fall in love with and watch the movie over and over."*
*Taken from interviews on the DVD's extra features.
'Almost Famous' follows the story of 15 year-old music fanatic, William Miller (Patrick Fugit), growing up in the 70's. His love of music leads him to his ultimate ambition, to be a music journalist. This is much to the disapproval of his overbearing, widowed mother (Frances McDormand), whose neurotic ways have already driven his older sister away to become a stewardess. One day William is fortunate enough to meet Lester Bangs (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), a successful journalist and editor of 'Creem' magazine, who sees William's passion and offers him $35 to write his first article on Black Sabbath. Having no pass, William can't even meet the band, but it is here that famous band aid, Penny Lane (Kate Hudson) and 'Stillwater', an up-and-coming rock band, enter his life. Then, William (posing as an 18 year old) gets the golden opportunity to write for Rolling Stone magazine about Stillwater. He is told firmly by Lester, "do not make friends with the rock stars", but the experiences he shares with them throughout the film give William some of his most valuable lessons on life, although by no means do things go as he would have expected. William's innocence and naivety make him a lovable character and easy to identify with, an excellent performance given by Fugit in his film debut.
In the film, the band represents a change from the hippie, peace-loving lifestyle of the 60's to the beginnings of the money-making, fame-hungry music industry we know today. They constantly profess that it is "all about the music", but behind this is a bitter quest for fame between the band members. This is shown through their disregard for William and also through the relationship between the guitarist Russell (Billy Crudup) and Penny Lane. Penny is brilliantly played by Hudson as a beautiful, carefree young woman, the object of every man's affection (including William), but beneath this "cool" demeanour, the 16 year old Penny is just as naive and vulnerable as him. All of these mixed, negative emotions in the film contrast with the cinematography, which encapsulates a warm, dreamlike quality of nostalgia surrounding the 70's rock music scene. When you watch the film it almost makes you want to be back there, experiencing it for yourself.
What makes Almost Famous intriguing is that it is a semi-autobiographical film, with William playing a young Cameron Crowe – who is the youngest journalist to write for the renowned Rolling Stone magazine. The fictional band "Stillwater" replaces a few of the famous musicians interviewed by Crowe in real-life; Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Lynard Skynard an impressive list for anyone, let alone someone so young.
The best thing I could do to sum up the film would be to play you the soundtrack, which would tell you everything you need to know. A quote from Patrick Fugit describes perfectly why you should watch it:
"You can tell it's a Cameron Crowe movie, because you can't really put it in a category of comedy, drama it has a certain quality that you just like to fall in love with and watch the movie over and over."*
*Taken from interviews on the DVD's extra features.