‘Almost Famous‘ is a phenomenon movie. The screenwriter and director is Cameron Crowe, who between 1996 and 2001 wrote and directed several splendid feature movies (for this one he won an Academy Award for best original screenplay) and then practically … disappeared. We are in 2025, the film was made in 2000 and most of the story takes place in 1973. The distance of two generations allows us to appreciate the perspective. ‘Almost Famous‘ is one of the best feature films about the rock music world of the ’70s. At the same time it is a formidable ‘road movie’ and a film full of sensitivity about rebellion and coming of age in adolescence. The combination works very well. Even though it did not enjoy an initial success with the public, ‘Almost Famous‘ seems to have grown over time and today we can see it not only as a docu-drama about rock and rockers but also as a case study for the way the history of rock has been treated in films.
The main character is a kind of alter-ego of the director-screenwriter, whose passion for music led him to becoming a correspondent for specialized magazines in his teens. William Miller is a precocious kid. His mother is a widowed teacher, who wants all the best in the world for him and his sister, who is a few years older, but stifles them with her ambitions (she sends the boy to school two years early) and with conceptions that some would call rigid and others normal (daily phone calls when they are far away, total rejection of rock culture, music and especially drugs). The LPs collection that his sister, Anita, leaves him as a secret legacy when she leaves home on the day she turns 18 awakens his passion for music. His talent as a journalist earns him an assignment from the renowned magazine ‘Rolling Stone’ – to accompany on tour and write a report on a rock band called ‘Stillwater’. But the magazine doesn’t know about the age of their correspondent – 15 years old. The journey together with the band members and their female admirers will mean an initiation into music, love and life. Not only for William, but also for those around him – the beautiful girl who hides behind the pseudonym Penny Lane, the rock musicians who become his friends, even his mother who is apparently locked in the mentality of the previous generation.
‘Almost Famous‘ – although made in 2000 – is so well written, acted and produced that I had a feeling of immersion in the world of young Americans in 1973, even now, watching the film in 2025. The young people in this film were my generation, except that I lived thousands of miles away and behind an Iron Curtain. And yet, absolutely all the records in Anita’s collection were familiar to me. The role of William is played by Patrick Fugit, and that of rocker (and love rival) Russell Hammond is played by Billy Crudup. Both were in 2000 young actors, who have since developed decent careers, but ‘Almost Famous‘ remained a peak in their paths. Kate Hudson is fascinating in the role of the girl with whom the film’s heroes, but probably also many in the audiences fall in love. Frances McDormand is William’s mother, a role a little different from that of the other characters in the film and different from other roles in a career that has many other peaks. Finally, I couldn’t help but shed a tear for Philip Seymour Hoffman who plays another journalist and music critic, William’s mentor. It’s been more than ten incredible years since Hoffman is no more, and such a role, which was unknown to me, seemed to bring him back among us. If only for him, this film was worth seeing. But there were many other good reasons.