Almost Famous

Theatrical Release Date: 2000 09 15 (USA - Limited) / 2000 09 29 (USA)

UPC: 667068781823

Studio: DreamWorks

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Adult Situations, Adult Language, Drug Content, Watch With Your Teen]

Summary: Writer and director Cameron Crowe's experiences as a teenage rock journalist -- he was a regular contributor to Rolling Stone while still in high school -- inspired this coming-of-age story about a 15-year-old boy hitting the road with an up-and-coming rock band in the early 1970s. Elaine Miller (Frances McDormand) is a bright, loving, but strict single parent whose distrust of rock music and fears about drug use have helped to drive a wedge between herself and her two children, Anita (Zooey Deschanel) and William (Patrick Fugit). Anita rebels by dropping out of school and becoming a stewardess, but William makes something of his love of rock & roll by writing album reviews for a local underground newspaper. William's work attracts the attention of Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman), editor of renegade rock magazine Creem, who takes William under his wing and gives him his first professional writing assignment -- covering a Black Sabbath concert. While William is unable to score an interview with the headliners, the opening act, Stillwater, are more than happy to chat with a reporter, even if he's still too young to drive, and William's piece on the group in Creem gains him a new admirer in Ben Fong-Torres (Terry Chen), an editor at Rolling Stone. Torres offers William an assignment for a 3,000-word cover story on Stillwater, and over the objections of his mother (whose parting words are "Don't use drugs!"), and after some stern advice from Bangs (who says under no circumstances should he become friends with a band he's covering), Williams joins Stillwater on tour, where he becomes friendly with guitarist Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup) and singer Jeff Bebe (Jason Lee). William also becomes enamored of Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), a groupie traveling with the band who is no older than William, but is deeply involved with Russell. Lester Bangs and Ben Fong-Torres, incidentally, were real-life rock writers Crowe worked with closely during his days as a journalist. Almost Famous' original score was composed by Nancy Wilson of Heart (who is also Crowe's wife). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Category: Comedy Drama

Awards: Best Picture - Musical or Comedy – null Best Supporting Actress – null Best Supporting Actress – null Best Screenplay – null AFI's Top 10 Films of the Year – American Film Institute Best Supporting Actress – Screen Actors Guild Best Supporting Actress – Screen Actors Guild Best Ensemble Acting – Screen Actors Guild Best Director – Directors Guild of America Best Picture – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Original Screenplay – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Actress – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Supporting Actress – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Music – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Sound – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Original Screenplay – Writers Guild of America Best Supporting Actress – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actress – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Original Screenplay – Broadcast Film Critics Association Breakthrough Performer – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Editing – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Editing – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Original Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Supporting Actress – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Supporting Actress – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture – Chicago Film Critics Association Best Screenplay – Chicago Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actress – Chicago Film Critics Association Most Promising Actor – Chicago Film Critics Association Best Screenplay – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Moti – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Moti – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Picture - Musical or Comedy – Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Features: Stillwater's "Fever Dog" music video
HBO behind-the-scenes featurette "The Making of Almost Famous"
The Rolling Stones articles
Cast and crew bios
Theatrical trailers
Production notes

Almost Famous

Format: DVD

Release Date: 03/13/2001

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen

Audio: 5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, 2 PCM stereo

Runtime: 123 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Scene Index.
0. Scene Index.
0. Menu Group #1 with 24 chapter(s) covering 02:03:05
1. The Chipmunk Song. [:21]
2. Sparks. [:08]
3. Search and Destroy. [3:23]
4. Teacher. [4:55]
5. Your Move. [3:13]
6. Fever Dog. [:20]
7. Something in the Air. [4:46]
8. Go All the Way. [3:14]
9. Simple Man. [2:13]
10. That's the Way. [3:13]
11. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere. [2:07]
12. Future Games. [1:56]
13. Tiny Dancer. [5:20]
14. Reeling in the Years. [:04]
15. Love Comes and Goes. [3:39]
16. The Wind. [5:28]
17. Slip Away. [2:19]
18. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters. [3:31]
19. My Cherie Amour. [3:33]
20. Cabin in the Sky. [2:04]
21. Brutalis. [4:07]
22. The Rain Song. [:16]
23. Tangerine. [3:30]
24. Feel Flows. [6:12]

Mark Deming

Depending on when you walk in, Almost Famous is either a coming-of-age drama, a love story, an often funny but sometimes painful look at the bonds of family, or a celebration of the glorious, liberating intoxication of rock & roll. And what's most remarkable about Cameron Crowe's fourth (and best) film is that it covers all these bases with equal skill, and an amiable, sure-footed grace. Crowe has made no secret that this film was based closely on his own experiences as a teenage rock journalist, and he certainly knows the nooks and crannies of life on the road in the 1970s; from the backstage rituals to the endless rounds of hotel parties, the film never hits a false note as it follows Stillwater's steady rise to fame. But more importantly, Crowe knows how to draw characters, and what could have easily been a collection of two-dimensional stereotypes emerges instead as an ensemble of credible, flesh-and-blood people. Elaine (Frances McDormand), the mother who dislikes and distrusts rock & roll, isn't a narrow-minded harridan, but an intelligent and socially progressive woman who doesn't want to see her children fall into a destructive adolescent conformity. The "band-aides," most notably Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), aren't fame-obsessed sexual predators, but devoted fans who have their own way of showing their loyalty to the musicians whose work means so much to them. And 15-year-old William (Patrick Fugit) isn't some youth lost in rock & roll Babylon, but a kid jazzed at living out his dreams and going on his first great adventure, while remaining smart (and grounded) enough to see both the peaks and valleys of the life he's capturing in words. One of Crowe's strongest suits has always been his ability to draw fine performances from his actors, and that's hardly failed him here. Newcomer Patrick Fugit is a marvel of boyish wonder and mature-beyond-his-years perception as William, Frances McDormand does an Oscar-worthy turn as his mother Elaine, Billy Crudup and Jason Lee are superb as the battling frontmen of Stillwater, Kate Hudson delivers a star-making, thoroughly charming performance as Penny, and Philip Seymour Hoffman is superb in an all-too-brief appearance as gonzo rock journalist (and part-time mentor to William) Lester Bangs. And Crowe's strong, clear, but unobtrusive visual sense, as well as his superlative ear for pop music, serve this material splendidly. If Almost Famous has a flaw, it's the noticeable upshift in the rhythm of its last act, which feels like an attempt to rush the film to its conclusion. But if the worst thing you can say about Almost Famous is that you wish it had been a bit longer, it says a lot about how thoroughly pleasurable a film it really is. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Ian Bryce  Producer 
Cameron Crowe  Director 
Cameron Crowe  Producer 
Cameron Crowe  Screenwriter 
Nancy Wilson  Composer (Music Score) 
Patrick Fugit  Actor 
Billy Crudup  Actor 
Frances McDormand  Actor 
Kate Hudson  Actor 
Jason Lee  Actor 
Philip Seymour Hoffman  Actor 
Zooey Deschanel  Actor 
Anna Paquin  Actor 
Fairuza Balk  Actor 
Noah Taylor  Actor 
John Fedevich  Actor 
Bijou Phillips  Actor 
Eion Bailey  Actor 
Terry Chen  Actor 
Jimmy Fallon  Actor 
Daniel Wilson  Actor 
Jay Baruchel  Actor 
John Patrick Amedori  Actor 
Michael Angarano  Actor 

Country: USA