Director: Cameron Crowe
Starring: Patrick Fugit, Billy Crudup, Kate Hudson, Frances McDormand, Jason Lee, Anna Paquin, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Noah Taylor

It’s the seventies, and William Miller (Fugit) is just like any other kid. He lives his life in his bedroom, lost in rock and roll, and his overprotective mother (McDormand) worries that she will lose him to the guitar-headed beast. Only a truly twisted mother, however, believes that there is evil in Simon and Garfunkel. Being slightly more obsessed than most, William has been producing and writing for music fanzines, and a chance encounter with legendary rock critic Lester Bangs (Hoffman) opens up a world unknown to any other fifteen year old.

Bangs assigns William to interview Black Sabbath backstage for his magazine, but it is the support band, Stillwater, who win his heart. Becoming fast friends with the band, he is encouraged by Bangs to speak to Rolling Stone, who are so excited by this up and coming young writer that they arrange to send him on a nationwide tour with the band.

If this, and the rock and roll hijinks of the road movie that follow, sound like Cameron Crowe has taken a leaf out of the Disney school of emagical kid pitches for Major League baseball team’ writing, then it all becomes clearer when one realises that this is in fact loosely based around his own life n he was, indeed, writing liner notes for bands in his teens. ‘Almost Famous’ could not be further from Crowe’s previous films, ‘Jerry Maguire’ and ‘Singles’. If anything, it is closest in spirit to that classic of early eighties cinema which came from his pen, ‘Fast Times at Ridgmont High’.

Although Fugit is the true star of ‘Almost Famous’, giving a mesmeric yet innocent portrayal of a boy growing up all too quickly in the depths of rock depravity, it is the performances of those he meets along the way that make this film truly special. Stillwater, led by Russell (Billy Crudup) and Jeff (Jason Lee), and managed by Noah Taylor, are a true fair-to-middling rock band, full of a healthy mix of Spinal Tap excess and true grit and emotion n it is refreshing to see Lee playing a meaty role outside of Kevin Smith’s kingdom. The real star-making turn comes from Kate Hudson, the band’s chief groupie (or ‘Band Aide’) Penny Lane, who falls for Russell while William is falling for her. Hudson owns every inch of the screen whenever she appears, and with a bloodline that just screams “star”, she is certain to soon get past lazy critics mentioning her mother (Goldie Hawn) in every review.

Hoffman is also a real delight, proving again that he is the best actor, bar none, working in Hollywood n nobody else could so deeply inhabit such a complex old rocker as Bangs and place such pleasure in his neuroses. Surely, one day the world will wake up and flood Hoffman’s doorstep with leading roles and Academy Awards. One day.

While ‘Almost Famous’ veers dangerously close to becoming a love letter to Cameron Crowe, from Cameron Crowe, in the end it succeeds as a great rock and roll film, worthy of its Oscar nominations. Where ‘High Fidelity’ was a warning about the dangers of getting lost to the music, ‘Almost Famous’ revels in it, delivering one big, acid-drenched, fuck-off power chord to those who think rock can ever die. From a director who has previously specialised in maudlin romantic comedy (with a Gen X edge), nothing could be more refreshing.