Almost Famous is about a kid who
embarks on a career as a rock journalist. This
lad has not advanced to the legal age to cut
his own toe nails and is greener than a eco-activist
cabbage growing in a patch of emeralds. Nevertheless,
he is able to
instantly insinuate himself
into the trust and affection of groupies AND
the beardie rock band, who invite him along
for the tour. For a brat of his age, he shows
a ridiculous level of maturity and good judgment
that would be beyond a saint; and, like a saint
he loves his horrifying, battle-axe mother (convincingly
played by Frances McDormand).
His mentor is a chap played by the sublime Philip
Seymore Hoffman, an actor who is growing on
me. Hoffman's voice is like a concrete mixer
only tuneful. He says some great things about
the music biz, as it was back in '73 when this
movie is set. He said, with all the 20 20 hindsight
of a 21st century scriptwriter, that rock was
gasping it's last breaths before being destroyed
by commercialism. He also says that our only
currency is what we, the uncool, tell the world,
or some such words. Love it!
Almost Famous is a comedy drama,
yet the band themselves were muted; charted
accountants could have made more chancy characters.
Spinal Tap will not be knocked off their No.
1 spot in the funny movie rock band chart for
the foreseeable future.
Apart from a few laughs here and there, this
movie was slightly subdued, in the same way
that the year this film was made (2000) was
slightly subdued compared to the year it portrays,
1973. One thing that did come over was how organic
the 70's were compared to today's more synthetic
world. Even as a technophile, I couldn't help
but speculate if life was more raw and fun back
then.
Almost Famous did not explore
the theme of rock selling out as fully as it
should have done. This, for me, was the most
fascinating aspect of the film. But instead
Almost Famous got bogged down
in meaningless romantic subplots. Shame. The
idea of a rock band selling out and then becoming
cynical could make a great movie. However, with
corporate Hollywood and the corporate music
biz being intertwined to a certain extent we
obviously cannot expect too many home truths
to be presented before us. Shame. Maybe one
day someone will produce a movie that blasts
the music biz like the excellent
The Insider
movie knocked the tobacco industry.
Ultimately though, the good in
Almost
Famous definitely outweighs the bad.
The film is sincere, it carries you along, it
is charming.
Almost Famous is
likeable and definitely worth a watch. This
film also has the wiff of originality about
it.
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spoilers corner
Spoilers!!!!
Warning: this box contains a movie post-mortem analysis that freely gives away important plot twists and details. If you have not yet seen this movie and intend seeing it, avoid this spoilers box until afterwards. Bookmark the page, see the movie, see if you agree with my review then write an arsy comment saying I am talking total b*ll*cks :-)
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That confrontational and revelationary
scene with Kate Hudson and the lad in
the park was pure artificial Hollywood
nonsense. Love interest could hardly be
more of a non-sequitur here. The pills
overdose scene was yet more false. I didn't
know a stomach pumping operation could
be so... quiet!!! Where
were the unpleasant noises and the discomfort?
The human condition is not exactly Hollywood's
strong point. Bad bad bad. Bad bad bad
bad baaaaaaaaaaaaaaadddddd!!!!
Almost Famous was at it's
best in the plane-in-peril scene. That
was funny, but could have been so much
better if the band members had been more
fully fleshed out. As it was, the revelations
were untouching, as revelations between
strangers.
The ending was way too neat and tidy.
I liked the idea of the lad not being
believed by Rolling Stone and the story
never appearing. My ending would have
been for the lad to have remained
unbelieved, betrayed by the band under
the influence of the music industry they
sold out to. The poignancy of that disaster
would have been far more affecting than
the stupid happy ending we were so patronisingly
fed. It smacked of a happy ending bolted
onto the end of an enjoyable movie, hence
over-sweetening it.
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There are no more spoilers below this
point, except maybe in any user talkback
comments.
End of spoilers corner
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The final scene at rolling stone would have
made the perfect ending. The stuff that followed
just ruined it.
27 Feb 2001
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