Are You With Us? - Almost Famous
By Shalimar Sahota
July 16, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Starring – Patrick Fugit, Kate Hudson, Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand, Jason Lee, Zooey Deschanel, Anna Paquin, Fairuza Balk, Noah Taylor, Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Length – 123 minutes
Cert – 15 / R
"I look for the one guy that isn't getting off," says Stillwater's lead singer Jeff (played by Jason Lee), "and I make him get off." And there you have the reason why Cameron Crowe received the Oscar for best original screenplay, for his somewhat semi-autobiographical story from the heart, when he used to write for Rolling Stone magazine.
Because Almost Famous was a well-reviewed film about rock 'n' roll, few people went to go see it. Not even I felt the need to watch a film centred on '60s and '70s music, thinking I'd be alienated. Distributed by DreamWorks, the studio held sneak previews before its release. Opening on just 131 screens in September 2000, it amazingly crept into the top ten, placing at number eight with a gross of $2.3 million on its opening weekend. With a result like that, DreamWorks decided to go all out, pushing the film in over 1,100 screens the following week. It charted higher at number three, earning $6.9 million. For the following three weeks they kept building the venue count, hoping that viewers would come, but unfortunately atendence dwindled.
Set when vinyl ruled the world (the 1970s kids), 15-year-old student William Miller (Patrick Fugit) is trying to make it as a rock journalist, writing the odd article for underground music magazines. When legendary music journalist Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman) arrives in William's hometown of San Diego, the teenager takes up the opportunity to meet him. The two get talking and Bangs eventually sets William an assignment, paying him up to $35 to write about a Black Sabbath concert. A paid assignment is a great break, but one that's difficult to accomplish since William doesn't actually have a ticket to see Black Sabbath! As he tries to talk his way into the venue he meets up with groupies who hate the term groupies. Led by Penny Lane (Kate Hudson) they call themselves the "Band-Aids", because they "inspire the music." He soon runs into opening act Stillwater, who let William backstage after he introduces himself to them as a genuine fan of their work. The guys in Stillwater like him so much they even invite him to join them at the Hyatt Hotel the following week.
Things start to get crazy when William receives a call from the editor of Rolling Stone magazine. Having read his work in the San Diego Door, they offer him $1,000 to write a piece for them. William convinces the editor to let him write a feature on Stillwater. This dismays William's mother Elaine (Frances McDormand), because this means her son has to skip school and follow Stillwater on tour. William wants to interview each member of the band, starting - but never quite getting anywhere - with guitarist Russell (Billy Crudup).
Patrick Fugit was generally unknown at the time and is still pretty much unknown now (though his turn in Cirque du Freak could change that). Crowe did the right thing by holding a nationwide search to find his William Miller, and Fugit's unheard of status only helps make the character more believable as an outsider, coming from nowhere at such a young age and suddenly being thrust into the zone. Fugit constantly looks like he's somewhere he doesn't belong, which must be why Crowe went for him, as William soaks in the experience, looking amazed and worried in equal measure.
That all the posters focused on Kate Hudson was no accident (the UK quad poster being the best). As the object of desire for Russell and William, and the life of every party, her character Penny epitomizes the carefree lifestyle. She does whatever she wants, knowing full well how painful it could be for her in the long run, which does make her come off childish at times. It's her relationship with band member Russell, where the acting excels, with moments where they exchange fully loaded glances that say enough for even the blind to grasp what's going on. "She pretends she doesn't care," says Band-Aid Polexia, played by a wittily ditzy Anna Paquin, summing up said moments of the act that Penny and Russell go through. Russell also pretends he doesn't care, agreeing to stake Penny in a game of Poker in exchange for $50 and a case of beer - because that's what the life of a groupie was worth to bands in the 1970s (no different today, really). She laughs it off when William reveals it to her, but the sadness is explicit for all to see... and shedding a tear equates to a moment of quality acting that earned Hudson an Oscar nomination.
Frances McDormand is excellent as William's unbelievably overprotective mother, believing that her way is the right way, refusing to let her children listen to their own music and celebrating Christmas in September, on a day when it won't be commercialized. Any scene where she has a phone in her hand is guaranteed to raise a laugh.
As a forewarning of what is to come, Bangs tells William, "You're gonna have friends like crazy, but they're gonna be fake friends. They're gonna try to corrupt you. But you can not make friends with the rock stars. These people are not your friends. These are people who want you to write sanctimonious stories about the genius of rock stars." What people often forget, but which this film addresses, is that the journalist must stay home and write instead of hanging out with their friends. William obviously makes friends with Stillwater, and as he sits in front of a blank page unable to write, he starts going through pictures taken on the tour, missing everyone. As for "the genius of rock stars," William may think that he's suddenly in with the cool crowd, but even the band members are worried about attaining that status themselves. "Just make us look cool," Russell tells William of the feature he'll be writing. Of course, when asked, "Are you cool?" just remember that the true cool guys will be above the question.
The soundtrack features songs that were actually in the film, from the likes of Led Zeppelin and David Bowie; none of that "inspired by" stuff, with Crowe letting certain tracks explain the overall mood. The most over-the-top example is Elton John's Tiny Dancer, played and ultimately sung along to on the tour bus; a scene carefully designed to make you feel all warm inside and to think of Almost Famous whenever you hear Tiny Dancer in the future. That this single scene has been uploaded onto Youtube, receiving over one and a half million views, shows that Crowe has succeeded.
Almost Famous works because the writing is platinum gold, capturing what it must have been like to be there with its collection of surreal and emotional moments, sometimes both at the same time. A turbulent plane trip produces uneasy laughs, but is a major turning point, showing how everything can change in a matter of minutes. Also you can't make a film like this without a band arguing over something, reaching Spinal Tap levels of hilarity during the unveiling of the Stillwater T-Shirts.
Almost Famous had everything going for it. Critics wanted to marry it, their quotes were on the posters, and it was actually easily accessible. Taking $32.5 million in the US and $14.8 million internationally, it ammased a worldwide take of $47.3 against a $60 million production budget. However, Almost Famous became famous on DVD, notably after Crowe released his "Bootleg Cut", with an extended version of the film running 40 minutes longer. As one of the best comedies I've missed out on, it's highly recommended you don't make the same mistake.