Cruising with Penny Lane

ALMOST FAMOUS (2000)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
(Best film of 2000 - Review originally written in 2000)

Cameron Crowe is the Stanley Kubrick of rock n' roll cinema. Here is a man who takes his time to develop his stories before unveiling them to the public. Consider "Say Anything" in 1989, followed by "Singles" (his second best film) in 1992, to the cloying and superficial Tom Cruise comedy-drama "Jerry Maguire" in 1996. Four years later, Crowe has created his most personal film by far, and certainly one of his most insightful. "Almost Famous" is an autobiographical look at an ambitious reporter who loves rock n' roll music, and decides to interview a reluctant band. The only catch is that the reporter is 15 years old!

Newcomer Patrick Fugit plays overachiever William Miller (based on Crowe's own days as a teen reporter), who lands an unusual assignment - Rolling Stone has asked him to cover a story on the up-and-coming fictional band Stillwater. Apparently, Rolling Stone is astounded by his in-depth story of the band in the magazine "Creem." Lo and behold, the youthful, naive William now travels with Stillwater on the road across the United States. William stays in hotels, loses his virginity to a few groupies, develops a crush on Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), a groupie who is in love with the band's lead guitarist, Russell (Billy Crudup), and in short soaks up their grungy atmosphere while trying to record their thoughts on fame and the band's future on tape. As Penny grows charmed by the young man, she lets him know that he is "too sweet for rock n' roll." And so he is, to the point where William is continuously called by his overprotective mother, a college professor (Frances McDormand), who warns him about drugs by simply stating "Don't do drugs."

There are many people that dominate William's life. The most significant is Russell, whom he develops a strong friendship with based on mutual respect. Penny is an even stronger friend who helps to get William laid, but she is so obsessed over her relationship with Russell that she forgets he may not love her. There is also the "uncool" rock journalist Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who warns William that rock music's genesis, the need to lose control, is losing its potency and to be wary of rock musicians who will only use him to get a nice cover story. The last thing a band needs is negative press.

"Almost Famous" floats by on Patrick Fugit's charm and elfish eyes - he has the sympathetic ooze and trustworthiness of Tobey Maguire. He is so enamored by this band that he is willing to take risks along with them. This also means that William has to abandon his school career and pending graduation. But who cares when you have sex, drugs and rock n' roll! Fugit is so damn lovable and likable that it is impossible to hate the film for having such a warm, fuzzy character at its center.

Also worth mentioning is the up-and-coming actor Billy Crudup ("Jesus's Son") who shows a temperamental nature in Russell, particularly at a party where he does acid and begins to badger the kid. Russell is also changed by William, and realizes his mistakes in his affairs. Kate Hudson, Goldie Hawn's daughter, is also quite good as the emotionally fraught Penny, affected by William's puppy-dog eyes and sweetness - her near-overdose scene is also effective as William tries to get help and admits his love for her. Philip Seymour Hoffman is delightfully witty and on-target as Lester Bangs - he has the best one-liners in the film and should get a deserved Best Supporting Actor nomination. Frances McDormand offers fine support as William's mother who has a disdain for rock music on purely immoral grounds. Also memorable are Jason Lee as the group's loud lead singer who considers William the "enemy", and Fairuza Balk and Anna Paquin as groupies who are there for the music.

I could have lived without the tumultuous scene in a plane where everyone feels the need to confess to their sins or the far too tidy final scene, and yet there is nothing in "Almost Famous" that does not work. Every scene feels honest and truthful, and Cameron Crowe's gift is in keeping the camera static and observational. Crowe has a gift for colorful dialogue and situations, and for bringing the appropriate mix of pathos and realism from his actors. My favorite scene is when the band is on a bus tour and they sing-along to Elton John's "Tiny Dancer." A scene like that might have been laughable or contrived under lesser hands, but Crowe manages to find a family connection between the members of the band and it pays off with poignance. Maybe someone like Paul Thomas Anderson might have shown the grittier, soulless side of the 70's rock music era whereas Crowe's affection for his characters and his own tumultuous, personal connection to them does not allow for it. By refusing to be sentimental, Crowe has made one of the livelier, soulful films about the 1970's that I've seen in quite a long time.