Film Review of Almost Famous
Year: 2000 Reviewer: Chris Docker
This is a hard film to sum up except to say that it's quite good. A 15yr old bright nerd gets a contract to write a feature story for Rolling Stone about an up and coming band in the early seventies. He follows the band on tour, also hooking up with cut-above groupies, one of whom he falls in love with.
This is a semi-autobiographical story from Director Cameron Crowe, further aided by people in the music business who gave help and training to add authenticity. Performances are all well-delivered and include lots of fine-shading in the characters. The script seems natural and is never predictable. Most of all, the film probably makes the audience feel the feelings, complete with shades, nuances and time-specific context that these kids in the seventies were going through, their trauma of adolescence, of falling in love, promiscuous sex, the central importance of music and its ability (through teenage eyes) to "set you free".
Given that the subject matter of the movie is kept pleasant and, objectively speaking, inconsequential, it is all the more remarkable that the film carries such an impact.
Rating: 8/10
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