Almost Famous is a 2000 comedy-drama film written and directed by Cameron Crowe and telling the fictional story of a teenage journalist writing for Rolling Stone magazine while covering a rock band Stillwater, and his efforts to get his first cover story published. The film is semi-autobiographical, as Crowe himself was a teenage writer for Rolling Stone.
The film is based on Crowe's experiences touring with rock bands The Allman Brothers Band, Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. In a Rolling Stone article, he talks about how he lost his virginity, fell in love, and met his heroes, experiences that are shared by William, the main character in the film.
Despite being a box office bomb, the film received positive reviews. It received four Oscar nominations, one of which led to an award to Crowe for his screenplay. It was also awarded the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. Roger Ebert hailed it the best film of the year. It also won two Golden Globes, for Best Picture and Kate Hudson won Best Supporting Actress.
Plot
In 1973, William Miller (Patrick Fugit) is a 15-year-old boy aspiring to be a rock journalist, despite the desires of his eccentric, overprotective mother, Elaine (Frances McDormand), who wants him to go into law. Shunned by his classmates (most of whom are two or three years older than he is), he writes for underground papers in his hometown of San Diego.
He goes one morning to watch as a local radio station interviews pioneering rock journalist Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman). The two hit it off, and Bangs gives William a $35 assignment to write up a Black Sabbath concert. William, without credentials or a ticket, cannot get into the arena. He meets up with some semi-groupies who call themselves "Band-Aides", named Estrella Starr (Bijou Phillips), Polexia Aphrodisia (Anna Paquin), and Sapphire (Fairuza Balk), as well as their leader, Penny Lane (Kate Hudson). Then he runs into the opening band on the card, Stillwater, who are running late. At first they dismiss him as a journalist, "the enemy", but when he calls them by their names and praises their most recent work in detail, they realize that he is a genuine fan and allow him backstage.
A week or so later, he goes with Penny (deceiving his mother) to the "Riot House" – the Hyatt Hotel on Sunset Boulevard. He first meets Vic Munoz (Jay Baruchel), an extreme Led Zeppelin fan with a bad stutter, who follows them all over the country, and they are soon in a room with Stillwater. Penny goes off with the band's "guitarist with mystique", Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup), to a vending room, where they have sex. William is beginning to appear jealous.
William is called by Ben Fong-Torres (Terry Chen), editor of Rolling Stone. They have read his material and want him to do a story. However, Ben is under the impression that William is several years older than he really is. William does nothing to disillusion Ben and manages to convince Ben to let him do a story on Stillwater for much more money than he would have expected. William has to follow Stillwater on their tour in order to interview the band members for the story. This causes him to miss school and ultimately his high school graduation.
Elaine consents, under strict conditions (which, to her chagrin, will be repeatedly violated). Penny and other Band-Aides will be riding the band's beloved tour bus, "Doris," as well. William tries to get interviews with each band member, but his attempts to interview Russell are repeatedly frustrated. The young journalist witnesses Russell receive a severe electric shock on stage in Phoenix, which infuriates the band and their manager, causing them to leave the show without finishing their set and to drive through a large metal gate to get out of the venue. A new band T-shirt showing the band (with all members but Russell out of focus) sparks a bitter argument between lead singer Jeff (Jason Lee) and Russell, with Jeff angry that what was once "The Jeff Bebe Band" is now dominated by Russell. In reaction, Russell and William go off to a teenage house party so Russell can be with people who are "real". Tripping on acid, Russell climbs onto the roof of the house where he screams "I am a golden god!" and dives into the pool. Everyone else at the party follows suit and also dives into the pool. William calls for the band bus to come by the house, and Russell is persuaded to get on the bus. It is made clear that, however much they might argue, the band is a family.
Both Penny and Russell know that Penny must leave the tour before New York, where Leslie, Russell's girlfriend, will be joining the tour. During a poker game, he allows the manager to put up the groupies as a stake. The band loses the groupies to the band Humble Pie for $50 and a case of Heineken beer. When William tells Penny about this, she acts nonchalant but is devastated.
Penny goes to New York on her own anyway, and, as the band celebrates in a restaurant together with Russell's girlfriend, Penny shows up in the background. It is clear that Penny is making Leslie uncomfortable because she speaks up and the band manager Dick Roswell (Noah Taylor) asks her to leave. William goes to Penny's room and finds her overdosed on quaaludes (methaqualone). While trying to wake her up, he tells her he loves her and goes where "many, many men have gone before" and kisses her. William calls a doctor, who comes and pumps her stomach.
On a plane ride to another concert, the band's plane is caught in poor weather and looks like it will have to make a crash landing. Believing they will all die, the band members and entourage start confessing their secrets. When Jeff and Russell start arguing, and Penny is referred to as "that fucking groupie", William, to the surprise of all, defends Penny and speaks his anger that the band used her, declaring his own love for her. The plane lands safely, leaving all to ponder the changed atmosphere.
William must continue on to San Francisco to finish the story. As he is leaving to fly to San Francisco, Russell tells him to go ahead and write whatever he wants. William, still upset about Penny, does write what he wants: the truth in its entirety. The Rolling Stone editors love the story and can't wait to publish it, but first they have to ask the band to verify it. The band, fearful of the effect the article will have on their image, denies everything. William is crushed and the story is dead. While sitting dejected in the airport, he sees his sister Anita (Zooey Deschanel), who had left both home and Elaine to become a stewardess. They go back home together, and William stages a reconciliation.
While backstage at the Miami Orange Bowl back on the Stillwater tour, Sapphire (Fairuza Balk) talks to Russell about Penny's near-suicide and how despite the many warnings she received about having too many people fall in love with her, one of them ended up saving her life. Russell is initially curious about the person Sapphire talks about (William), but Sapphire immediately chastises him, saying that everyone, including Penny, knows what Russell and the band did to him and how awful they think it is. Russell then calls Penny and asks for her address, telling her that he wants to meet. Instead she gives him William's address in an attempt to solve the conflict between them. Russell goes to the house thinking it's Penny's but finds Elaine instead. Upon learning who he is, she sends him in to see William. The two of them reconcile and Russell finally gives William the long overdue interview. He then reveals that he called Rolling Stone and told them that William's story is true.
The final scenes are a picture of the cover of the Rolling Stone issue that will feature William's story with Russell's picture on the front with the rest of the band behind him. We then see images of Penny leaving on her dream trip to Morocco, William at home with his sister and mother, and of Doris, which will take the band (without William) on its 1974 tour (with the marquee "NO MORE AIRPLANES TOUR 1974"). Though, as Bangs suggested, rock 'n' roll may be changing from an art form to a profit center, it is implied that at least Stillwater will be immune from this[citation needed].
Cast
Alternative versions
Along with the standard DVD version, Crowe compiled an alternative version called Untitled, which was a compilation of both released footage and his favorite deleted scenes. Running for about 40 minutes longer than the theatrical release, Untitled was subtitled "The Bootleg Cut", with its packaging resembling a cheap seventies bootleg. (A variant of Untitled is the basis of the network television version of Almost Famous.) The film has been released in Region 2 territories on Blu-ray Disc in its "Untitled" form, however these discs are region-free and will play in all Blu-Ray machines.
The DVD also contains a deleted scene that shows William playing Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven (in its entirety) to his mother. The song itself is not included on the soundtrack but the video has a watermark instructing viewers when to start the song.
Changes to the film
- The hand in the opening titles writes "Untitled" instead of "Almost Famous".
- Elaine berates a man for painting "Merry Xmas" on a storefront, saying "Xmas" is not a real word.
- Young William is mocked in the school shower for his lack of pubic hair.
- Bangs talks in more detail about The Guess Who and mentions a live version of "American Woman" from the band's Live at the Paramount.
- Before cutting to the restaurant scene with Bangs, William and Lester stand on a street corner in silence, as Lester waits for a bus.
- Before the first concert, Russell tells William how the littlest details in songs are the ones that people remember the most, citing a vocal sound in Marvin Gaye's "What's Happening, Brother?" as an example.
- Anita's ex-boyfriend climbs through the window of her bedroom and reminisces to William about the sex that the couple had there.
- Before he leaves for the Hyatt House, William is given a wad of 'gas money' by his mother.
- Penny and William's arrival at the Hyatt House is heavily extended, featuring a longer section with Peter Frampton, as well as William being told to "blow me!" by a comedian.
- Before having sex in the ice room, Penny and Russell have a conversation about their failing relationship.
- Stillwater attends a radio interview, hosted by a stoned DJ (Kyle Gass) who falls asleep mid-conversation. Band members argue and spout profanities on-air as the DJ snoozes.
- An extra scene before Russell's electric shock shows William attempting to interview Stillwater's dimwitted bassist in the pouring rain. There is also a scene where William interviews the drummer who does not speak a word.
- The backstage fight over the blurry t-shirt includes an added exchange in which Russell asks Jeff if he's on cocaine.
- In addition to "Page, Plant...Mick, Keith", Jeff also mentions Ritchie Blackmore and Ian Gillan of Deep Purple when he gives examples of frontmen/guitarist songwriting teams.
- A couple of lines were added to the scene in Aaron's bedroom, in which Russell gives his belt to a young admirer.
- The scene after Russell jumps into the swimming pool is extended.
- The band holds a birthday party for Penny Lane, where she first learns that she is not welcome on the airplane.
- Upon exiting the band's car in New York, William's bag tears, spilling his (stolen) souvenirs from hotels all over the pavement. He is assisted in picking them up by Dick. This explains, in the regular cut, why William is holding a torn bag when he is confronted by superfan Vic.
- After Penny Lane's recovery from her Quaalude overdose, she and William walk by the lake in Central Park. She proceeds to tell him her real name, and in the extended cut, says: "Keith Richards looked at me, pulled me on stage, he took me backstage, and gave me a Coke with ice and a lemon. And I never went home."
- The scene where the band discusses what William wrote and how they want to deny it was extended.
- A short scene is added near the end as Jeff and Russell talk their relationship through.
Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack features over 50 songs, making up an eclectic mix of period rock, other period genres, and some songs written by Crowe's wife, Nancy Wilson, expressly for the film. Highlights include rarely-licensed Led Zeppelin tracks, Simon & Garfunkel's "America", Elton John's "Tiny Dancer", and "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters", Steely Dan's "Reelin' in the Years", Joni Mitchell's "River" and Thunderclap Newman's "Something in the Air". There is one slight anachronism: during a party scene the song "Burn" by Deep Purple plays in the background. The album was not released until February 1974, a half year after the events are supposed to have taken place. Another anachronism involves the albums left to William by his sister. When William first looks through the records, it is 1969, but one of the records (Blue by Joni Mitchell) was not released until 1971.
Reaction
Almost Famous had its premiere at the 2000 Toronto Film Festival.[2] It was subsequently given a limited release on September 15, 2000 in 131 theaters where it grossed $2.3 million on its first weekend. It was given a wider release on September 22, 2000 in 1,193 theaters where it grossed $6.9 million on its opening weekend. The film went on to make $32.5 million in North America and $14.8 million in the rest of the world for a worldwide total of $47.3, well below its $60 million budget.[3]
Critical reception
Almost Famous was very well-received by critics who gave it predominantly positive reviews. The film has an 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 90 metascore on Metacritic.[4][5] Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars and praised it for being "funny and touching in so many different ways".[6] In his review for The New York Times, A.O. Scott wrote, "The movie's real pleasures are to be found not in its story but in its profusion of funny, offbeat scenes. It's the kind of picture that invites you to go back and savor your favorite moments like choice album cuts".[7] Time magazine's Richard Corliss praised the film's screenplay for "giving each character his reasons, making everyone in the emotional debate charming and compelling, creating fictional people who breathe in a story with an organic life".[8] In her review for the L.A. Weekly, Manohla Dargis wrote that "the film shimmers with the irresistible pleasures that define Hollywood at its best - it's polished like glass, funny, knowing and bright, and filled with characters whose lives are invariably sexier and more purposeful than our own".[9] Rolling Stone magazine's Peter Travers wrote, "Not since A Hard Day's Night has a movie caught the thrumming exuberance of going where the music takes you".[10] In his review for Newsweek, David Ansen wrote, "Character-driven, it relies on chemistry, camaraderie, a sharp eye for detail and good casting".[11]
Entertainment Weekly gave the film an "A-" rating and Owen Gleiberman praised Crowe for depicting the 1970s as "an era that found its purpose in having no purpose. Crowe, staying close to his memories, has gotten it, for perhaps the first time, onto the screen".[12] In his review for the Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Turan praised Philip Seymour Hoffman's portrayal of Lester Bangs: "Superbly played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, more and more the most gifted and inspired character actor working in film, what could have been the cliched portrait of an older mentor who speaks the straight truth blossoms into a marvelous personality".[13] However, in his review for The New York Observer, Andrew Sarris felt that "none of the non-musical components on the screen matched the excitement of the music. For whatever reason, too much of the dark side has been left out".[14] Desson Howe, in his review for the Washington Post, found it "very hard to see these long-haired kids as products of the 1970s instead of dressed up actors from the Seattle-Starbucks era. I couldn't help wondering how many of these performers had to buy a CD copy of the song and study it for the first time".[15]
Awards and nominations
Academy Awards: Win:
- Best Screenplay - Original (Cameron Crowe)
Nominated:
- Best Editing
- Best Supporting Actress (Kate Hudson)
- Best Supporting Actress (Frances McDormand)
American Cinema Editors:
- Best Edited Film - Musical or Comedy (won)
Directors Guild of America (DGA):
- Outstanding Directing - Motion Pictures (Cameron Crowe, nominated)
Golden Globe Awards: Win:
- Best Film - Musical or Comedy (won)
- Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture (Kate Hudson, won)
Nominated:
- Best Screenplay (Cameron Crowe, nominated)
- Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture (Frances McDormand, nominated)
Grammy Awards:
- Best Compilation Soundtrack Album - Motion Picture, Television or other Visual Media (won)
Producers Guild of America (PGA):
- Motion Picture Producer of the Year (nominated)
Screen Actors Guild (SAG):
- Outstanding Cast - Motion Picture (nominated)
- Outstanding Supporting Female Actor (Kate Hudson, nominated)
- Outstanding Supporting Female Actor (Frances McDormand, nominated)
Writers Guild of America (WGA):
- Best Screenplay - Original (Cameron Crowe, nominated)
Cultural references
- In the scene in which the tour plane hits turbulence, Russell starts to sing "Peggy Sue". This is in reference to Buddy Holly, who died in a plane crash while on tour. Russell then continues "Whoa baby!", referencing The Big Bopper, who died in the same plane crash. The fact that the near-crash was in Mississippi was an allusion to the actual Lynyrd Skynyrd crash near McComb.
- At the party, when he is on acid, Russell Hammond cries out, "I am a golden god!" This is a reference to Robert Plant of the band Led Zeppelin, who is purported to have said the same thing (sober) while looking over the Sunset Strip from a balcony at the Continental Hyatt "Riot" House. The same scene was parodied on Not Another Teen Movie.
- When William goes to Rolling Stone's offices, Terry Chen (playing RS music editor Ben Fong-Torres) stands in front of a poster for Hunter S. Thompson's Freak Power campaign.
- At the first Stillwater show there is a rose lying on the stage and a man in front of the stage raises his arm, thus recreating the cover of Neil Young's album Time Fades Away.
- When Penny Lane is driving William to the "Riot House", a reflection of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album goes across the windscreen.
- The band's name, Stillwater, comes from the Soundgarden song Rusty Cage. The name makes reference to the line "I'll take the river down to still water and ride a pack of dogs", Crowe had previously worked with Soundgarden in the film Singles. The name also echoes that of Sweetwater, the first band scheduled play at Woodstock (the first performer was in fact Richie Havens).
- There was a southern-rock band called Stillwater, which formed in 1973 in Georgia. The band was signed to Capricorn Records and released two modestly successful abums. Cameron Crowe actually approached members of Stillwater before shooting began to secure permission to use the name in the film.
- The television series Entourage parodies the scene from the party, when Russell Hammond is on the roof, in the episode "One Day In The Valley", in which Eric "E" Murphy, declares to everybody that Vince is having his "Almost Famous" moment.
- In the television series "Psych" several references to Almost Famous are made by the main character, Shawn, during the episode "Lets Get Hairy". It becomes a running gag when he makes a reference to a woman's name (Polexia) as Anna Paquin's character in Almost Famous. The gag is that when Shawn says this the typical response from everyone is "Anna Paquin was in Almost Famous?"
- Stillwater's touring airplane is a Twin Beech. Appropriately enough, Otis Redding and Jim Croce were both killed in Twin Beech crashes.
References
- ^ a b "Almost Famous (2000)". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=almostfamous.htm. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
- ^ Kehr, Dave (August 25, 2000). "Organic Growth In Toronto". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/25/movies/at-the-movies-organic-growth-in-toronto.html?scp=169&sq=%22Almost+Famous%22&st=nyt. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- ^ "Almost Famous". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=almostfamous.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- ^ "Almost Famous (2000)". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/almost_famous/. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
- ^ "Almost Famous Reviews". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/almostfamous. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (September 15, 2000). "Almost Famous". Chicago Sun-Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20000915/REVIEWS/9150301/1023. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- ^ Scott, A.O (September 15, 2000). "Almost Famous". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/13/movies/film-review-with-sympathy-for-the-devil-a-rock-writer-finds-his-way.html?scp=162&sq=%22Almost+Famous%22&st=nyt. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- ^ Corliss, Richard (September 10, 2000). "Absolutely Fabulous". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,54413,00.html. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- ^ Dargis, Manohla (September 21, 2000). "Gonna Make You Groove". L.A. Weekly. http://www.laweekly.com/2000-09-21/film-tv/gonna-make-you-groove. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- ^ Travers, Peter (December 10, 2000). "Almost Famous". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/5947895/review/5947896/almost_famous. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- ^ Ansen, David (September 18, 2000). "He's With The Band". Newsweek. http://www.newsweek.com/id/86148. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- ^ Gleiberman, Owen (September 15, 2000). "Almost Famous". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,277502,00.html. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- ^ Turan, Kenneth (September 13, 2000). "Almost Famous". Los Angeles Times. http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-movie000912-1,0,6141798.story. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- ^ Sarris, Andrew (September 17, 2000). "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll-Where Are the Sex and Drugs?". The New York Observer. http://www.observer.com/node/43393. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- ^ Howe, Desson (September 22, 2000). "Almost Poignant". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/entertainment/movies/reviews/almostfamoushowe.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
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