Almost Famous (2000)

reviewed by
Ron Small


ALMOST FAMOUS (2000)
Grade: A-
Director: Cameron Crowe
Screenplay: Cameron Crowe

Starring: Patrick Fugit, Billy Crudup, Kate Hudson, Frances McDormand, Jason Lee, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Faizura Balk, Anna Paquin, Noah Taylor

After his tremendous success with JERRY MAGUIRE, writer\director Cameron Crowe was given a reasonably big budget, final cut and major studio backing to make ALMOST FAMOUS, the most personal of his films. It's a situation similar to the one Paul Thomas Anderson found himself in after BOOGIE NIGHTS (which was more of a critical darling than a huge success). Anderson chose to follow that up with MAGNOLIA, a film that displayed the fervency and scope of his earlier picture but was also granted leeway to include some artistic gambits that might've been frowned upon by studio heads. Some of them worked (I kinda dug the frogs, so sue me) and some of them didn't quite work (the musical interlude for instance, though I know people who disagree) but even the worst of his stratagems were sorta interesting for you could so clearly see the passion brimming behind them. With all that freedom Cameron Crowe has constructed a movie that's like the filmic equivalent of a classic rock song by Led Zepplin or The Doors. It's rambling, warm, whimsical, observant, and with a tinge of melancholy, though nothing that rudely announces itself via PATCH ADAMS-like obscene sentimentality.

ALMOST FAMOUS is Crowe's semi-autobiographical story of a fifteen year old prodigy, William Miller (newcomer Patrick Fugit, standing in for Cameron) who, on the encouragement of rock critic Lester Bangs (played with throaty charm by Phillip Seymour Hoffman), sets out to pursue a career as a rock writer. He manages to wrangle a freelance job with ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE and is sent on tour for several days with the about-to-hit rock band STILL WATER, headed by a low key Jim Morrison-type, Russell (Billy Crudup). Actually the lead singer is Bebe (Jason Lee, looking like Charles Manson's kinder, more docile brother), a whiny runt upstaged by Russell, the guitar player whose "looks are becoming a problem". Among them are the hanger ons, or groupies, seemingly led by uber-flower child Penny Lane (a sleepy eyed Kate Hudson).

The camera is just daffy over Hudson, or more likely Cameron is, for he trains it on her incessantly, caressing her pert, wide-open face as if it were an endangered monument. Penny comes with a bright all-knowing countenance, as if she were chock full of wisdom, though it's mostly an act to get Russell's attention. I'm not sure if this was the intent but I found Hudson's character to be more pathetic than loveable, though it hardly matters; she's an innocent seeking to meld herself with an image of cool. She is, of course, being used by Russell (who sleeps with her, then tosses her away like a used condom), which she may or may not be aware of. Penny chooses to see herself as something of a muse; it's her sex that inspires Russell to make the music she adores. A delusion, but a lovely one at that.

Other groupies include Faizura Balk as a scary-cool hipster and the apple pie Anna Paquin who says "lets deflower the boy" (referring to Fugit's William) and they do. Fugit is as doe eyed as they come, cherubic and cute though he doesn't make much of an impression but that's okay since he mostly serves as a tour guide to the other, more stimulating characters. Though still, the film suffers an itsy bit because it isn't endowed with a strong central character a la JERRY MAGUIRE or SAY ANYTHING. In the latter film, Crowe created a complete original with Lloyd Dobler (brought wonderfully to life by John Cusack), the oddly charming, hyper verbal sweetie that Cusack has been aping in some way or another his entire career (though I can hardly fault him for it, he does it so well). Fugit isn't nearly as memorable; in fact I'd probably have forgotten him had I not had to think about him in order to write this here review.

Hudson is a better character, an oxymoronic combo of giggly fangirl and blossoming independent; she's Crowe's most intriguing female creation. Meanwhile Russell, accurately played by Billy Crudup (JESUS' SON) as a regular guy inching towards the spotlight, (he's half prima donna, half "guy" guy) is more of a periphery character, as is Frances McDormand's mother and the quirkily named Zooey Deschanel the expressive actress who shows up in two scenes as William's older sister, rumpling his hair and cooing to him "Don't worry, someday you'll be cool". Even less a periphery character is the wildly charismatic Lester Bangs, played lovingly by Hoffman as a cynical dork savant. I would've loved to see a movie with this wily fellow as the protagonist, but he remains a brief, delightful presence, his screen time hardly totaling in at 5 minutes.

Nevertheless, those complaints are of mere crumbs amid a beatific cake; it's to Crowe's credit that he has us wishing we could spend more time with nearly every minor character. And ALMOST FAMOUS works to an equal to or greater degree than his past projects, none of which have been any less than good. (Even his much-derided SINGLES offered some insight into Gen X-ers, and I can't think of any other movie that came close to suggesting that this particular Generation was anything more than ironic, pop culture obsessed lay abouts).

ALMOST FAMOUS is as fun as JERRY MAGUIRE, but less muddled and without all that pesky soul searching. It has the infectious sweetness of SAY ANYTHING, though is visually much more confident. And there's also that zeal, the buzz you get when a filmmaker expresses his passions with the sure hand of a crackerjack veteran. Crowe is the rare mainstream director who loves his characters the way Paul Thomas Anderson loves his, and he's practically protective of them, as we become. For instance, the complete affection in which he gives us William's overprotective mother (whose mantra is "don't do drugs") is refreshing considering the adults in youth movies tend to be authoritative dolts. The character (played by Francis McDormand in pretty much the opposite of a shrill Shelly Winters performance) is a kind intellectual who wants her kids to read Shakespeare, and forbids them to listen to rock music because she desperately wants them to trek through life un-corrupted. As played by McDormand she's real hard not to like. Compare that to the hideous chain smoking, god loving, anti-rock caricature of a mother Lin Shaye played in DETROIT ROCK CITY, which, by the way, is similar in many respects to ALMOST FAMOUS except in how awfully stupid it is.

Here is a movie that loves its audience while most flicks come with barely concealed contempt for their audiences. And it also loves its music and the glorious, sometimes tragic effects of those melodies on the fans whose best memories are the amplified ones. Cameron captures this in a heartbreaking, silent ten seconds; he trains his camera on a prancing Kate Hudson, twirling about in a cleared out stadium amid floating litter. It's as if she just has to squeeze every last bit of energy she can from the show…even well after its end. Crowe has made a movie that cheerfully greets us with open arms as if to say "Welcome to the party". And what a party it is.

http://www.geocities.com/incongruity98 Reeling (Ron Small)


The review above was posted to the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due to ASCII to HTML conversion.

Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews