Almost Famous
- Almost Famous is also the name of an album by R&B singer Lumidee.
| Almost Famous | |
|---|---|
| File:Almost famous poster.jpg | |
| Directed by | Cameron Crowe |
| Written by | Cameron Crowe |
| Produced by | Ian Bryce Cameron Crowe |
| Starring | Patrick Fugit Billy Crudup Kate Hudson Frances McDormand Philip Seymour Hoffman Jason Lee Noah Taylor Zooey Deschanel Jimmy Fallon |
| Cinematography | John Toll |
| Edited by | Joe Hutshing Saar Klein |
| Music by | Cameron Crowe |
| Distributed by | Dreamworks |
Release date | September 13 2000 |
Running time | 122 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $61,000,000 |
Almost Famous is a film, written and directed by Cameron Crowe and released in 2000. It tells the story of a teenage journalist for Rolling Stone magazine covering the rock band Stillwater, and his efforts to get his first cover story published. Along the way, he befriends a sweet-natured groupie (or as she prefers to refer to herself, "a Band Aid") named Penny Lane. The film is semi-autobiographical, as Crowe himself was a teenage writer for Rolling Stone. The fictional band is based on many bands whom Crowe (and/or his mentor and friend, the late Lester Bangs) wrote about: The Allman Brothers Band is the most immediately recognizable model since Stillwater's album cover is a parody of that of The Allman Brothers: At Fillmore East. There are obvious references to anecdotes from the careers of Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Doors, Grand Funk Railroad, Motorhead, The New York Dolls and several other bands.
The film stars:
- Patrick Fugit as Crowe's alter ego, William Miller
- Billy Crudup, Jason Lee, and Noah Taylor as lead guitarist, lead singer, and band manager respectively, of the fictional band Stillwater.
- Frances McDormand and Zooey Deschanel as William's mother and sister, respectively
- Kate Hudson, Fairuza Balk, Anna Paquin, and Bijou Phillips as groupies known as "Band Aids." Hudson's character Penny Lane was based on several women Crowe knew, but primarily on "rock star muse" Bebe Buell as well as Pennie Trumble, who actually called herself 'Penny Lane.'[1]
- Jimmy Fallon as the band's new manager Dennis Hope
- Philip Seymour Hoffman as real-life journalist Lester Bangs.
The film's award-winning soundtrack featured an eclectic mix of period rock, other period genres, and songs written by Crowe's wife, Nancy Wilson, expressly for the movie. Highlights include Simon & Garfunkel's "America", Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" and "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters", and Thunderclap Newman's "Something in the Air."
Despite very good reviews the film was not a box office success. The film received four Oscar nominations, one of which led to an award to Crowe for his screenplay. Two of the other nominations where for Best Suporting Actress, to Frances McDormand and Kate Hudson. It was also awarded the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.
The tagline for Almost Famous is "Experience It. Enjoy It. Just Don't Fall For It."
Musical background
The movie remains a masterful piece for those who were raised in the 1970s and provides a valuable insight into the mind of Cameron Crowe and through his adept storytelling, presents a rare look inside rock and roll.
Fugit, who was born 10 years after the events depicted in the movie take place, was given a collection of records to listen to and learn from in order to help him understand the period.
When William and Penny are in the car together, there is a reflection on the car windscreen of the front cover of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.
It is mentioned in the film that Stillwater is from Troy, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, Michigan.
See Also
The Bootleg Cut
Along with the standard DVD version, Crowe compiled an alternate version called "Untitled," which was a compilation of both released footage, and his favorite deleted scenes. Running for over a half hour longer than the theatrical release, "Untitled" was subtitled 'The Bootleg Cut', with its packaging resembling a cheap Seventies bootleg. The set is apparently out-of-print at the current time. (Incidentally, a variant of the Bootleg Cut is the basis of the network television version of "Almost Famous.")
Changes to the film include -
- The hand in the opening titles writes "Untitled" instead of "Almost Famous."
- Elaine berates a man for painting "Merry Xmas" on a storefront, complaining that "Xmas" is not a real word.
- Young William is mocked in the school shower for his lack of pubic hair.
- Additional albums are glimpsed in the scene in which young William finds the record bag under his bed.
- William arrives at school to see that his classmates have changed the marquee on the school's sign to read "William Miller is too young to drive or fuck."
- While Bangs is at the radio station, Bangs is talking about The Guess Who in more detail, including mentioning a live version of American Woman from the band's Live at the Paramount album.
- Before cutting to the restaurant scene with Lester Bangs, William and Lester stand on a street corner in silence, as Lester waits for a bus.
- Before the first concert, Russell tells William how the littlest details in songs are the ones that people remember the most, citing a vocal sound in Marvin Gaye's "What's Happening, Brother?" as an example.
- Anita's boyfriend climbs through the window of her bedroom and reminisces to William about the sex that they had there.
- Before he leaves for the Hyatt House, William is given a wad of 'gas money' by his mother.
- Penny and William's arrival at the Hyatt House is heavily extended, featuring a longer section with Peter Frampton, as well as William being told to "blow me!" by a comedian he recognizes.
- Before having sex in the ice room, Penny and Russell have a conversation about their failing relationship.
- Stillwater attends a radio interview, hosted by a stoned DJ (portrayed by Kyle Gass) who falls asleep mid-conversation.
- An extra scene before Russell's electrocution shows William attempting to interview Stillwater's dimwitted bassist in the pouring rain.
- The backstage fight over the blurry t-shirt includes an added exchange in which Russell asks Jeff if he's on cocaine.
- A couple lines were added to the scene in Aaron's bedroom, in which Russell gives his belt to a young admirer.
- The scene after Russell jumps into the swimming pool is extended to imply that there was some concern whether or not he would resurface before everyone else jumps in.
- The band holds a birthday party for Penny Lane, where she first learns that she is not welcome on the airplane.
- After Penny Lane's recovery from her Quaalude overdose, she and William walk through the lake in Central Park. She proceeds to tell him her real name, and in the extended cut, says: "Keith Richards looked at me, pulled me on stage, he took me backstage, and gave me a Coke with ice and a lemon. And I never went home."
Trivia
- During production, all casting notices and memos were under the name "Untitled Cameron Crowe Project". "Untitled" was later reused as the name for the "Directors Cut" of the movie, with the actors portraying "Stillwater" providing the actual musical backup.
- During breaks in filming, Peter Frampton would frequently entertain the actors and extras by giving live performances.
- Peter Frampton taught Billy Crudup how to play the guitar in preparation for the concert scenes. Frampton also appears briefly onscreen playing the manager of the band Humble Pie: in real life, as a younger man, he was a member of Humble Pie.
- In addition to acting, Peter Frampton also performed duties as technical consultant, musician, song writer, and music instructor.
- Dave Grohl (of the Foo Fighters and Nirvana) jokingly claimed that he thanks Cameron Crowe every night before he goes to bed because if he had not seen Almost Famous then he would have never heard "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John.[citation needed]
- Scenes which depict the famous Continental Hyatt House (or "Riot House") were filmed at the actual hotel. Parts of the hotel were refurbushed with exactly the same decor as existed there in the 1970s.
- The film is director Cameron Crowe's semi-autobiographical account of life as a young Rolling Stone reporter. The actual group that Crowe first toured with was The Allman Brothers. (Gregg Allman was the one who distrusted him and kept asking if he was a narc.) Crowe's real-life near-fatal plane crash happened while traveling with The Who. The character of Russell Hammond is based on Glenn Frey of The Eagles with his eluseiveness about being interviewed based on Crowe's experiences with Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page.
DVD release date
External links
- Almost Famous on Cameron Crowe's Official Website
- Soundtrack information at the SoundtrackINFO project
- December 1973 Rolling Stone cover story
- Almost Famous at IMDb
- Original movie script containing scenes never shown in cinema but available on the director's cut