Almost Famous (2001, DVD)

Almost Famous might just be the greatest rock-and-roll movie ever made (with apologies to Grease, The Rose and This is Spinal Tap). It is certainly one of the greatest movies of 2000 twelve months that are shaping up as the Year of the Cineplex Wasteland.

As we head into the season of Oscar contenders (of which Almost Famous is sure to be one), I can think of only two other movies which would make my Top List for this year: Erin Brockovich and Nurse Betty, and even those sit on the cusp, ready to be bumped by something better. So, when a movie like Cameron Crowe s tribute to the 1970s rock scene comes along a movie with outstanding writing, directing and acting critics tend to get a little weepy with relief. Heck, we ll even rip our shirts and flick our cigarette lighters as we sway to the good stuff up on screen.

And man, oh man, is there a lot of good stuff in this film. Crowe has always been a first-rate craftsman, composing scripts with painstaking care. He s given us a quotebook full of memorable lines: "I got a question if you guys know so much about women, how come you're here at like the Gas 'n' Sip on a Saturday night completely alone drinking beers with no women anywhere?" (Say Anything) and "Shut up, just shut up you had me at hello" (Jerry Maguire). Almost Famous, however, is his finest work yet. There is not one wasted moment, not one stray word during its two hours. In fact, there are so many dialogue gems, I couldn t take notes fast enough in the dark theater and eventually I just gave up, sat back and thrilled to the joys of the script.

Almost Famous didn t teach me anything about rock-and-roll that I didn t already know or suspect the drugs, the sex, the over-stroked egos but it presented the concert tour scene in such a way that made it vivid and utterly unforgettable. And it all comes to us through the eyes of a 15-year-old journalist who s gotten an assignment from Rolling Stone to cover the almost-famous rock group Stillwater, a composite of bands Crowe covered when he was a teenage writer for Rolling Stone (most likely the Allman Brothers Band or Lynyrd Skynyrd).

William Miller (newcomer Patrick Fugit) is just savvy enough to finagle his way backstage where Stillwater is opening for Black Sabbath in 1974 and he s just lucky enough to land the plum assignment with Rolling Stone (he convinces the editors by lowering his voice and being vague with personal details). He s a smart kid "You re a predominantly accelerated child," his protective mother (Frances McDormand) tells him but he s also a na ve kid "They re gonna eat you alive," he s warned by his mentor, Creem editor Lester Bangs (Phillip Seymour Hoffman).

Armed with a tape recorder and doe-eyed innocence, William joins the Stillwater tour, hanging out on the bus with the groupies, interviewing band members and experiencing the slow disintegration of his childhood. His mother is constantly calling, warning him "Don t do drugs," and he does stay away from the pot, the acid and the booze. Since this is a coming-of-age film, however, he doesn t avoid the snare of sex so easily. Still, his deflowering at the hands of a trio of groupies is somewhat of an embarrassment for him.

That s because William only has eyes for the ethereally-beautiful Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), the teenage grou er, "band-aid" who, in turn, only has eyes for the band s guitarist Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup). It s a sweet and tragic love triangle that forms the heart of Almost Famous and drives the plot forward. But the movie is about so much more: loyalty, pride, honesty and, as the lead characters in Say Anything and Jerry Maguire discover, choosing the right path for your life (finding your "kwan," as Cuba Gooding Jr. would say). In the midst of all the drugs, sex and rock-and-roll, Almost Famous manages to become the most moral and spiritually-uplifting movie of the year.

As you d expect, it also has one of the best soundtracks of the season. In addition to classics from The Who, Todd Rundgren, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, the film is scored by Heart s Nancy Wilson (who also happens to be Mrs. Cameron Crowe). The concert footage scenes are incredibly accurate with the look and feel of wailing guitars and hoarse-voiced idols flinging their sweaty hair around the stage. If you lived during that era, this is more than a nostalgia trip, this is reality, man.

For my money, the best rock moment comes on the bus during a tense and uneasy scene between the band members. Some of them want to quit, others are feeling threatened and jealous. Suddenly, "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John starts playing on the radio and, one by one, the band on the bus starts singing the words. It s the most rewarding spontaneous musical moment since that sing-along in Magnolia.

There s a lot to love about Almost Famous (here s where I flick my Bic and wave it over my head), but it s the performances by the soon-to-be-famous cast which give the movie its lasting spark. Crowe who once got the best out of Tom Cruise and John Cusack pulls great acting out of everyone here. Standouts in the supporting cast include Fairuza Balk and Anna Pacquin as "band-aids," Noah Taylor as the stressed-out band manager, Zooey Deschanel as William s sister and Jason Lee as Stillwater s lead singer whose ego is easily bruised ("I m the front man, you were always the lead guitarist with mystique," he yells at Russell after a mix-up at the T-shirt factory puts Russell in the picture s foreground).

In a role that Brad Pitt turned down, Crudup proves to be the perfect choice for the burned-out rock star who s looking for something real. In one telling scene, he ditches the rest of the band for one night to hang out with "real teenagers" at a Topeka party. He goes around the suburban house, saying, "This lamp, man. I used to have this lamp." All the longing for the past and the boredom of the present is captured in those lines, breaking through the smoky mystique of a guy who s played one too many sweaty-haired anthems. Crudup gives the character everything he s got, surprising us with the deep waters of an outwardly-shallow rock star.

As the lead characters, Fugit and Hudson are as good as their more seasoned co-stars. Both display the fragility and heartbreak of two teens forced to enter the adult world before their high school graduation. Fugit s face goes through an entire evolution as the movie progresses and he learns more about the band and their emotional cruelties. Hudson (the daughter of Goldie Hawn and Bill Hudson) is a true joy to watch it s a confident, star-making performance which will easily launch the young actress career.

However, the two people who have the best moments of the movie are McDormand and Hoffman. Their characters provide William s moral balance Mom is ultra-conservative while Lester Bangs is a liberal progressive and their advice, telephoned to the teen while he s on the road, is priceless beyond compare. In one scene, McDormand gives Crudup a dressing-down which is both hilarious and touching. That mini-sermon later proves to be a catalyst for the tormented rocker. Despite his dumpy demeanor, Hoffman has always been one of my favorite character actors working today. Here, he s got yet another juicy role and he relishes every one of the great lines Crowe feeds him. One piece of dialogue which survived my dark-theater scribblings: "Friendship is the booze they feed you," Lester tells William. "They want you to get drunk on feeling like you belong."

This pre-Oscar season, you belong in the theater with Almost Famous where you re sure to get drunk on some of the best moviemaking in a long time. Ripped shirts and cigarette lighters are optional.