ALMOST FAMOUS RATING: 8/10 --> Great movie
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My ability to relate to this film's protagonist has exponentially grown over the past few months, as I too have recently been given the opportunity to interview some of the stars whose films I end up reviewing for my website, JoBlo's Movie Emporium (http://joblo.com/). It was, and continues to be, quite strange to balance my task as a so-called "movie critic" and "movie fan", since my love of movies ultimately surpasses my interest in film criticism. Having said that, despite not being paid for my reviews or reporting to any editor (I run my own site), I do take my task of writing film reviews very seriously and always report the truth, no matter how nasty (or great, as in this case!). I've always maintained this personal motto of truth in my own life as well, and honestly believe that you ultimately do your counterpart a favor by presenting them with the reality of the situation, as you see it.
Now I'm sorry about this little personal preamble before my review, but I think it's important for my readers to know where I'm coming from before reading some of my criticisms, especially when it hits so close to home. In the end, my goal is to remain the "joblo" of film criticism, and I hope that I can continue to achieve that down-to-earth quality throughout all of my reviews. Thanks for tuning in.
PLOT: A precocious high school boy gets the opportunity to write an article about an up-and-coming rock band, by joining them on the road for a few days. Along the way, he struggles with the concept of reporting the truth vs his friendship with the band members, and meets a pretty girl who also likes to hang out with the band.
CRITIQUE: An entertaining movie from top to bottom: an interesting story, superb actors, rockin' soundtrack, well-developed characters, a strong message, a nice love story, top-notch directing, humor, drama and two star-making turns in Billy Crudup and Kate Hudson. Think about whatever it is that you generally look for in a movie, and it will be in this one! A tribute to the music that is rock 'n roll, this film lets you ride along with various participants of the game, checking out the different sceneries along the way. It gets behind the music, behind the fans, behind the band, behind everything! It will definitely bring back a flood of memories to anyone who actually lived through those times, and certainly connect to anyone else who has ever been a major fan of any rock band or ever wanted to be a musician (rock star) themselves. It's nice to see that in a year of film mediocrity, a movie such as this can still come out and remind us all why we love movies so much in the first place. This one takes you away for a couple of hours, tells an interesting tale through several interesting characters, and certifies its participation in the year-end Best Picture race by wrapping it all up in a wonderful bouquet of entertainment. And despite a little bit of over-romanticism of the music and the times, this film still manages to present us with some great insight into the main players of the music biz including the musicians themselves, the fans and the reporters who cover it all.
And with a solid script as its base, this film takes off to another level with the excellent performances shot forth by its lead actors. Billy Crudup has been tooling around Hollywood for some time now, but this film will undoubtedly catapult him off the charts. I hope that this film does to him, what GLADIATOR did to Russell Crowe. And where the heck did Kate Hudson come from? Brought into this world by actress Goldie Hawn, known primarily for her pranky roles in easy comedies, Hudson takes on this lead role with the edge of a pro, and the charisma of a newfound sensation. Two more nominations for awards should be reserved for these two well-deserved thespians at the year-end ceremonies. And tag those great roles on to several other smaller showings, including Frances McDormand, perfect as the over-protective mom, who can't help but look out for her children, Jason Lee, coming into his own as the pseudo-Jim Morrison like lead singer, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, who remarkably cannot seem to pick any bad roles in movies, and you've got yourself an all-around rock-solid cast. This film puts rock 'n roll on a pedestal but that's not all it does. It's really a journey about finding yourself. Characters all floating around their lives, unsure of who they are or what they stand for, until their day-to-day interactions eventually help them find their true selves. See it for the music, if you like. See it for the great performances or see it simply because of its greater entertainment value, but the bottom line is that this movie is one of the best films of the year, and no matter why you think you want to see it, just see it, dammit! Who knows, maybe it'll help you "find yourself", too.
Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: Much like this film's protagonist, William Miller, writer/director Cameron Crowe got his start as a rock journalist at the age of 15. In 1973, when he was just 16, he joined the staff of "Rolling Stone" magazine, where he eventually became an associate editor. While still in his teens, he managed to profile many of the era's most influential artists, including Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Joni Mitchell and Eric Clapton. In 1979, Crowe, then 22, returned to high school to research a book, which resulted in the best-selling novel FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, which was eventually written into a screenplay by him, and directed into a movie with Amy Heckerling at the helm. Lester Bangs, the character portrayed by Philip Seymour Hoffman and the editor of Creem magazine, was in actuality a very influential person in Cameron's own life as well. If you stay tuned to the entire film credits at the end of the movie, you will note the unusual disclaimer about the character of Penny Lane actually having been "based on an actual individual". Cameron Crowe appears to have given us an insight into his own muse... Other than Billy Crudup and Jason Lee, the two other members of the group Stillwater are real-life musicians, Mark Kozelek and John Fedevich. Billy Crudup made his feature film debut in 1996 in Barry Levinson's SLEEPERS, starring Robert DeNiro and Brad Pitt, and was then featured in Woody Allen's EVERYONE SAYS I LOVE YOU. Actor Patrick Fugit makes his motion picture debut in this picture. He was chosen for the role of William Miller over hundreds of other young actors. And pay close attention otherwise you might miss the unrecognizable performance put forth by SNL cast member Jimmy Fallon, as the "new manager" about 2/3 of the way through the movie. A certain "William Mapother" plays the "bartender" role in this movie. Tom Cruise's real name is Thomas Cruise Mapother. Not sure what his connection to Tom is, but he is definitely related. Tom Cruise starred in Cameron Crowe's last picture entitled JERRY MAGUIRE. They remain good friends. Besides being a technical consultant on this movie, singer Peter Frampton makes a cameo appearance as "Reg", the road manager for Humble Pie. He first came to prominence as a member of the actual group Humble Pie. This film was initially titled STILLWATER and SOMETHING REAL.
Review Date: September 16, 2000 Director: Cameron Crowe Writer: Cameron Crowe Producers: Cameron Crowe and Ian Bryce Actors: Billy Crudup as Russell Hammond Kate Hudson as Penny Lane Patrick Fugit as William Miller Jason Lee as Jeff Bebe Genre: Drama Year of Release: 2000 ------------------------------------- JoBlo's Movie Emporium http://www.joblo.com/ ------------------------------------- (c) 2000 Berge Garabedian
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