Favourite Films: No. 20: Almost Famous
Cameron Crowe’s semi-autobiographical film is amusing and touching in equal measure. It is very much a coming of age tale telling the story of an aspiring rock journalist, William Miller (Patrick Fugit), as he goes on the road with the band Stillwater to write an article for Rolling Stone magazine. Fugit’s central performance carries the film but with supporting turns by Frances McDormand, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kate Hudson, Jason Lee and Billy Crudup all putting in a decent effort.
As Miller travels around the US on the Stillwater tour bus he becomes expose to the excesses of the music world - the groupies, the drugs and the band arguements all combine to force Miller to break free of his mother’s (McDormand) grasp and make his own way in life.
As a director, Crowe, has yet to better Almost Famous with his following films, Vanilla Sky and Elizabethtown recieving mixed critical and fan reaction. Here, he guides the story with a steady hand and the obviously more personal story gives us less flashy, but very successful results. The superb soundtrack also helps to set the film against the perfect backdrop.
Almost Famous is a heartwarming tale that brings genuine humour to the fore whilst offering plenty to bolster the coming of age genre and comes highly recommended.