|
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Editions | myCNN | Video | Audio | Headline News Brief | Feedback | |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Rocking, growing in the '70s'Almost Famous' a cool flick, man
(CNN) -- Writer/director Cameron Crowe has poured his heart and soul into "Almost Famous," a semiautographical account of a period in his life. The result is a delightful film that is touching, funny and eminently enjoyable. Crowe gave us the Academy Award-nominated film "Jerry Maguire" in 1996. But 23 years earlier, in 1973, he was a writer for "Rolling Stone" magazine at the tender age of 16. His latest film is the story about that pivotal time. It's also a heartfelt valentine to fans of good ol' fashion and classic rock 'n' roll. "Almost Famous" is the name given to the summer bus tour of Stillwater, the film's fictional up-and-coming band. The group is fronted by lead guitarist Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup) and lead singer Jeff Bebe (Jason Lee). An innocent aboardThrown into their heady arena of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll is 15-year-old William Miller, played by newcomer Patrick Fugit. This Utah native is Crowe's alter ego, and we see the world through his perspective. Fugit's performance as a wide-eyed innocent is remarkable. Equally good is Frances McDormand as Elaine, William's protective but wise mother. Patterned after Crowe's mother, Elaine makes the hard decision to let her little boy follow his dream -- but not before nearly embarrassing her son to death. "Don't take drugs!" she yells at the young writer as he stands in a parking lot outside a rock concert. William is helped in his journey by legendary rock journalist Lester Bangs, played by the ever-versatile Philip Seymour Hoffman. Bangs takes William under his wing, getting him an assignment for Creem magazine, which leads to a job for Rolling Stone. After lowering his voice considerably, young William is hired over the phone, and is told to profile Stillwater for the magazine.
There's just one little problem: He can't get past security at the venue where the band is playing because no one believes the kid is actually a journalist. Fate intervenes when he meets Penny Lane (Kate Hudson). She's a band aid. A what? "Band aids," it turns out, are not to be confused with mere groupies. Unlike groupies, who are solely sex toys for band members, band aids are music fans. In other words, they'll perform oral sex only. Bangs has warned William not to get too close to the people he's profiling. "Friendship is the booze they feed you," he says, adding, "They make you feel cool. I've met you. You are not cool." But when William is drawn into the band's inner circle he loses his objectivity, his innocence about people and his virginity. What follows is a wonderful odyssey as Williams learns some hard-earned lessons about families -- both at home and on the road. Superb castingThey say a writer should write about what he knows best, and Crowe has done that in spades. It's clear he loves music and the people who make it. He is, after all, married to Nancy Wilson, guitarist for the the rock band Heart, and she did the score for this film. His finely drawn characters are reminiscent of some of the major musicians of that era. Billy is a lot like Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, and there is a little of Glenn Frey, a former member of The Eagles, in the role of Jeff. The dynamics between band members and their fans rings true, too. Crowe has also written one of the funniest scenes you're likely to see in a film. When the band's members, along with William, think they are about to die in a plane crash, they tell all their inner secrets -- a sort of group purging of the soul. When the plane doesn't crash, they all have way too much information about each other; their hilarious awkwardness afterward is sheer perfection. Crowe's eye for casting is flawless. When Brad Pitt dropped out of the film, Crowe tapped Crudup for the role of Hammond. It was a great choice, as Crudup brings a wonderful sense of truth to the part. A star of Pitt's stature would have thrown the film off balance, too. Hudson, who has a phenomenal sense of confidence in front of the camera, was also a brilliant choice. The daughter of Goldie Hawn, she's been in the spotlight her whole life. Add that confidence to her innate acting talent, and a star is in the making. "Almost Famous" cost millions, and Crowe probably could have gone the therapy route for a whole lot less money in order to gain perspective about his teen years. But moviegoers would have been denied one of the best films of the year had he done that. "Almost Famous" opens in the top ten markets on Friday and expands nationwide on September 29. Rated R. 130 minutes. RELATED STORIES: Billy Crudup's role resurrects short-story collection RELATED SITE: Almost Famous |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Back to the top |
© 2001 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. |
![[CNN Money]](http://i.cnn.net/cnn/images/main/fn.logo.newsnet.gif){kind=logo}
![[SI.com]](http://i.cnn.net/cnn/images/main/si.logo.gif){kind=logo}
(
