THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
It's hard to find your place in the world and if I learned anything from Almost Famous, it takes an unlikely journey to do so.
PLOT
The film takes place in 1973, following 15 year old William Miller who aspires to be a writer. He lives with his widowed mother Elaine who had him start first grade at age 5 and skip fifth grade. When his sister Anita moved away, she left behind her cache of rock albums for him, which was kept secret by their mom due to her fear of rock music being a negative effect on children. The music inspires William to write exclusively for the genre. As he writes freelance articles in San Diego, it catches the attention of known journalist Lester Bangs, who assigns him to write a review for a Black Sabbath concert. There, he gets in backstage with the aid of opening band Stillwater. The group includes: Lead singer Jeff Bebe, lead guitarist Russell Hammond, bass guitarist Larry Fellows (Mark Kozelek), drummer Ed Vallencourt (John Fedevich) and manager Dick Roswell. During the show, he also meets veteran groupie Lady Goodman aka Penny Lane, who identifies as a 'band aid', a female fan who is there for the music more than the band. They connect so well that she invites him for a future trip to Morocco. After the show, Russell takes such a liking to him that he invites him to a party in LA. It is there where Will realizes that he and Penny have a secret relationship. A day after the party, he gets hired by Rolling Stone editor Ben Fong Torres (Terry Chen) to write an article about Stillwater, which would send him on the road with the band. This would bother Elaine big time as the trip would be so long he would miss his graduation. During the tour, the band make him part of the inner circle and joking call him 'The Enemy' as journalists write articles that bands dislike. The interview doesn't go as planned for Will when each band mate including Russell put him off. He does notice tension between him and Jeff, arguing of how the guitarist is becoming the star of the band, believing his talent is growing beyond their limits. The tour would further become an experience unlike anything Will has ever seen when Russell gets electrocuted onstage and gets drunk at a house party. At one point, Russell even gets to talk to Elaine on the phone, who respectively tells him to be more responsible. As the tour progressed, renowned manager Dennis Hope (Jimmy Fallon) briefly replaces Dick with the intent to make more money by booking more dates, which they would arrive on time with an airplane instead of their tour bus 'Doris'. As the tour reaches an end on one of the stops, William gets upset that Dick and Russell wager Penny and the fellow Band Aides in a poker game, selling them to Humble Pie for $50 and case of beer. Russell agrees to this to keep secret of his fling from his girlfriend Leslie (Liz Stauber) who intends join the band on their last day of the tour at New York. When he tells Penny what he saw and urges her not to go, she chooses to dismiss it despite being visibly heartbroken. When Will gets to New York, he gets a case a good and bad news: The good news is that Stillwater be on the next Rolling Stone cover. The bad news is that Penny showed up when she wasn't supposed to. It goes awry as expected when she gets spotted by Leslie at a restaurant. Dick is able to convince her to leave and when Will checks on her, she takes the heartbreak so personal that she overdoses on quaaludes. Luckily, he is able to save her by calling the hotel doctors. After she recovers, he takes her to the airport, where she flies back home. When Will takes the plane home with the band, their plane gets caught in the edge of a storm. Afraid that their lives are gonna end, everyone confesses to their secrets: Dennis confesses to a hit & run, Dick admits to taking more than his regular fees and the band admits to sleeping with his ex wife on separate occasions. Jeff stirs up the pot by admitting to sleep with Leslie, calling out Russell for acting above everybody and his affair with Penny. William even speaks up by calling out the band for not appreciating her, admitting that she almost died and proclaims his love for her. Ed ends the tension by confessing to be gay. This would be a miracle as the plane is able to make it through the weather. After landing, WIlliam still doesn't have a legit interview for his article, but Russell encourages him to write whatever he wants. So when he gets to Rolling Stone headquarters in San Francisco, he gets advice from Lester to be honest with it. He writes everything he witnessed, only for it to be dismissed when Russell denied 90% of it. On his way home in San Diego, he reunites with Anita whose been working as a stewardess, encouraging her to make reconcile with their mother who she hasn't spoken to since moving out. As the bandaids appear to go on their separate ways until next tour, band aid Sapphire chastises Russell for destroying Will's article. This inspires him to do right by calling Rolling Stone back, ensuring that they understand Will wrote nothing but the truth. He then calls Penny, wanting to see her again after separating from Leslie. She gives him an address, only to discover it to be Will's home by the time he gets there. This gives him the chance to apologize to the teen, letting him know that he fixed his mistake. Will takes this opportunity to personally interview him like he wanted. Afterwards, the film ends with the article being ran as a cover feature, Stillwater touring again by bus and Penny fulfilling her fantasy to go to Morocco.
THOUGHTS
I've been seeing this film since my time in high school and I still can't get enough of this unexpected batch of greatness. I feel so attached to this one because Writer/Director Cameron Crowe puts me in a trance of an era that felt like paradise. Truthfully though, it's so striking to watch for showing the realistic downside of fame yet make such low points feel heady and thrilling. It even feels touching to see how music is spoken like religion. That is a really good thing because we all need something that will be our escape from reality. The prime era of rock and roll may be long gone, but it's legacy will be immortal. But within all of that, the main moral that matters is to never lose your true identity when you become famous. Even when you hang around famous people, you can't forget where you came from because you can't guarantee they'll put themselves on the line for you like you think you would for them. And I think all of that is perfectly captured through the memorable ensemble. As the lead William Miller, Patrick Fugit was able to show what it's like to figure yourself out in the years of youth. He's the ambitious teen you'll ever see because he wants to give his all in what he's passionate about. He does just that with his writing, but the tour changes his life for the better because it taught him how normal it is to love family. He didn't hesitate doing the tour for the article's sake, but he truthfully did it to fit in which is exactly what happened. He enjoyed the new world he never thought he'd explore yet he always never forgot about the home waiting for him. In the end, he became a great writer because he told it how it is, which is essential in any line of work. If you ain't true to yourself in what you do, then you're not passionate like you think you are. So after getting the interview he wanted, you just know he's setting the right path of his career. He honestly has the best family to ask for because both his mother and sister are looking out for him in the best ways. You admire Frances McDormand as the strict Elaine because she wants him to play it safe and not be taken advantage of. And as for Zooey Deschanel's Anita, she teaches him to live in the moment, which is exactly what helped him set his path. It was cute that it is he who brought them together to reconcile because he wouldn't be the young man he'd grow up to be without either of them. Surprisingly, he is not the only one trying to figure himself out as the other adults around him are still trying to. It's easy to fall in love with Billy Crudup as Russell because he is an assertive guy that enjoys being in the moment as much as he can. He takes a liking to Will because he sees himself in him, someone wanting to be in the moment. Everything that is the moment is the most real to him and being a rock star helps him look for and create a whole bunch of them. Shouting 'I am a Golden God' on acid on a rooftop and singing 'Tiny Dancer' on the bus qualifies for him. Obviously, he dismissed Will's story because he was afraid of being embarrassed. This only led to him doing the right thing to go back on it because he knew WIll admired his spirit deep down. For me, I fell in love with Penny Lane the very second Kate Hudson first appears onscreen. I just get awestruck of how free spirited she chooses to be and it's crazy there's not enough people like her. She and Russell fell for each other so quickly because they were both all about the moment. However, Russell wrongfully tried to play it both ways with Leslie, which would make audience's hearts sink as deep as Penny's did. She would do the right thing not going back to him because she didn't need him and she realized that. Will is so infatuated with her because she feels just as nuanced as the genre of rock music is. Aside from the age gap, it made sense for her to not be with Will because she still needs to figure herself out and I think after her trip in Morocco, things will be much align. It was even a treat to see Anna Paquin's Polexia and Fairuza Balk's Sapphire because they have the similar spirit as Penny to truly enjoy the music more than the stars. I actually enjoy whenever the girls say "It's all happening" because they're talking about life and how it's truly happening to them as they live it the way they want to. Another character I enjoyed was Jeff because Jason Lee portrayed him as a guy that wants to have equal respect even when he thinks he works harder. He's honestly a brave guy for admitting how uncomfortable he is around Russell when it could blow up in his face, yet it never does. Thankfully, the plane brought the band together and made them appreciate each other, realizing they wouldn't be where they are without one or the other. I even dug Dick because Noah Taylor ensured that he is a guy that wanted the very best of the band. I won't exaggerate and call him a father figure, but I don't think anyone cared for those guys like he did. Last but not least, the best performance of this movie that makes it all worth it is Philip Seymour Hoffman as Lester Bangs. He is the most class act mentor I've ever seen because he doesn't gain anything when having William under his wing. The best advice I ever heard from him or anyone else is 'Be honest and unmerciful'. It speaks volumes to this day because that is what matters the most in life. If you're not doing that to yourself and to others, than you're never gonna get anywhere. Will stood true to that advice and while it got rocky, it paved the way for the career he wanted and you gotta admire the risk of something so simple. In short, Almost Famous is an incredible film for making us appreciate music and life itself. If you need your self discovery, this will pave the way for you.
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