Almost Famous (2000)

In the 2000 comedy “Almost Famous,” writer-director Cameron Crowe set out to tell the story of his introduction into the world of rock music. Through its surprisingly human characters, “Almost Famous” captures the young protagonist's loss of innocence and gives viewers a backstage pass into the flaky charm of rockstars.

The storyteller of "Almost Famous" is 15-year-old William Miller, who, on assignment from Rolling Stone, follows burgeoning band Stillwater on tour in 1975. Along the way, he befriends groupie Penny Lane (though she prefers the term "Band-Aid") and Stillwater guitarist Russell Hammond, all while struggling to understand the unwritten code of life on the road. This film would be nothing without the dynamics between William, Penny and Russell. William falls in love with Penny, who has already fallen in love with Russell, who is, in every way, the consistently inconsistent musician they both idolize. As the wisest and most sincere spirit on the tour bus, William helps to ground Russell and show Penny that she is worth more than the vague muse she tries to be.

Thanks to Patrick Fugit, Kate Hudson and Billy Crudup, these characters read as real, genuine people instead of caricatures. Hudson and Crudup preach the free-wheeling lifestyle, but in more serious moments, their characters show subtle signs of regret, signaling to Fugit's William that they might not believe everything they're saying, but love the illusion too much to leave. Penny attempts to preserve herself by subscribing to the mystique she has built up around this world she inhabits. She separates the rockstar universe from the "real world," and tells William, "Never take it seriously. If you never take it seriously, you never get hurt, and if you never get hurt, you're always having fun." Russell tells him, "Nobody's feelings are getting hurt here... Everybody understands. This is the circus." William, functioning as the mirror that Penny and Russell must each face eventually, forces truth into both of their lives. After Russell agrees to sell Penny and the rest of the Band-Aids to another band for $50 dollars and a case of beer, William has had enough of their fantasy. "When and where does this 'real world' occur?!" he demands of Penny, and enraged at Russell's callousness, screams, "You guys are always talking about the fans, the fans, the fans... She was your biggest fan! And you threw her away!"

Hudson, as Penny, doesn't falter in her conviction until the moment when William reveals the Band-Aid trade. She tells him he's too sweet for rock-n-roll, and William reacts to her attitude by telling her that she needs to wake up. After the reveal, she stares at him, stunned, but mostly keeps her composure, attempting to play off her broken heart with a joke. With tears on her cheeks, she shrugs and asks William, "What kind of beer?" This scene encapsulates the entire film, because as William says, "I could be very dangerous to all of you! I am not sweet, and you should know that about me. I am the enemy!" It's true: William isn't sweet, he's just honest. Penny's and Russell's existences balance on the freedom of living without consequences, and William's purity threatens their denial.

One of the greatest things about this film is that, for a person who was born long after the storyline's events, the portrayal of the time period feels like a documentary. Even if you never experienced the seventies, the costume design looks authentic and the locations aren't affected by the fact that they were shot in 1999. Each song selection is perfect for the moment in which it appears, from the band's sing-along to Elton John's "Tiny Dancer," to the almost-comical use of Stevie Wonder's "My Cherie Amour" over the shot of Penny getting her stomach pumped after a quaalude overdose. The latter moment is a perfect example of how Cameron Crowe's affectionate nostalgia creates a snapshot that doesn't delve too far into the darkest aspects of the story. Crowe's screenplay is filtered through his own experiences and memories from his time in William's shoes. This doesn't produce the most hard-hitting rock movie, but it certainly relays the events in a personal way, the way he remembers it. Crowe is as unreliable a narrator as Penny is, but that doesn't make his story any less engaging. It becomes timeless. Even in the modern age, the legend of the rockstar lifestyle remains debauched and unsatisfactory, but that doesn't stop plenty of us from wanting to live it.