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Almost Famous, 2000
William (Patrick Fugit) is an aspiring music critic who manages to find his way in to the inner circle of an up-and-coming rock band called Stillwater. His mother (Frances McDormand) agrees to let him follow the band on tour, and William is soon hired by Rolling Stone to do a cover story, not realizing they've hired a teenager. William's relationship with the band, and specifically its magnetic guitarist Russell (Billy Crudup), goes through many ups and downs, especially as William develops feelings for a "Band aid" named Penny (Kate Hudson) who also follows the band.
Overall this was a very charming, well-paced film that balances multiple character dynamics with grace and humor.
Fugit is really excellent in the lead role, exuding just the right mix of youthful enthusiasm with savvy observation. William writes down and remembers everything that he sees. As the film goes on, William begins to develop more of a discerning eye for the behaviors around him. The arc that he goes on is not one up straight-up disillusionment, but rather someone realizing that people are complex and that sometimes you need to decide where your loyalties lie.
This is also definitely a star-making role for Hudson. There's an inherent power imbalance between a band and a groupie, and her Penny Lane is just keen and placid enough that it does feel like she has some autonomy. There's no question that the band takes advantage of her and takes her for granted, but Penny is a forceful enough character that her character isn't tragic. You fully understand why William would fall in love with her, and you also fully understand that Russell and the band don't realize the value of her company.
Crudup strikes the right notes as Russell, who is generally an okay guy, but whose ego at times leads him to act in hurtful ways. Russell is exactly the kind of character you need at the center of a story like this---charismatic enough that you understand why William and Penny would be enchanted by him, but selfish in exactly the kind of ways you expect from someone who is fed a constant diet of adoration.
Of course, Frances McDormand is awesome as William's mother. Fretting from afar as her teenage child crosses the country with a rock band, she must settle for delivering a mix of threats and Goethe quotes to the people who she has entrusted with her child. In another supporting role, Philip Seymour Hoffman is great as the magazine editor who gives William his start and who gives him key advice as William tries to wrangle his Rolling Stone piece into something real.
I think that a lot of the success of the film comes from the way that it treats its characters with respect, and that's especially true in the case of the female groupies. It would be easy to make the characters the constant butt of jokes as basically dumb sluts, but instead the movie lets them have personalities and comedic moments of their own. Their evolving relationship with William---which straddles an uncomfortable but not unfunny line between pesky little brother and boyfriend--provides a series of funny moments without dehumanizing the characters. Part of the central premise of the film is the way that Penny is devalued by Russell, and it would have been gross hypocrisy for the movie to take a contemptuous approach to their characters.
Overall this was a fun, character-driven film. I think that it comes off well because it really nails the final act in a way that leaves every character changed and evolved from when we first met them.
Almost Famous, 2000
William (Patrick Fugit) is an aspiring music critic who manages to find his way in to the inner circle of an up-and-coming rock band called Stillwater. His mother (Frances McDormand) agrees to let him follow the band on tour, and William is soon hired by Rolling Stone to do a cover story, not realizing they've hired a teenager. William's relationship with the band, and specifically its magnetic guitarist Russell (Billy Crudup), goes through many ups and downs, especially as William develops feelings for a "Band aid" named Penny (Kate Hudson) who also follows the band.
Overall this was a very charming, well-paced film that balances multiple character dynamics with grace and humor.
Fugit is really excellent in the lead role, exuding just the right mix of youthful enthusiasm with savvy observation. William writes down and remembers everything that he sees. As the film goes on, William begins to develop more of a discerning eye for the behaviors around him. The arc that he goes on is not one up straight-up disillusionment, but rather someone realizing that people are complex and that sometimes you need to decide where your loyalties lie.
This is also definitely a star-making role for Hudson. There's an inherent power imbalance between a band and a groupie, and her Penny Lane is just keen and placid enough that it does feel like she has some autonomy. There's no question that the band takes advantage of her and takes her for granted, but Penny is a forceful enough character that her character isn't tragic. You fully understand why William would fall in love with her, and you also fully understand that Russell and the band don't realize the value of her company.
Crudup strikes the right notes as Russell, who is generally an okay guy, but whose ego at times leads him to act in hurtful ways. Russell is exactly the kind of character you need at the center of a story like this---charismatic enough that you understand why William and Penny would be enchanted by him, but selfish in exactly the kind of ways you expect from someone who is fed a constant diet of adoration.
Of course, Frances McDormand is awesome as William's mother. Fretting from afar as her teenage child crosses the country with a rock band, she must settle for delivering a mix of threats and Goethe quotes to the people who she has entrusted with her child. In another supporting role, Philip Seymour Hoffman is great as the magazine editor who gives William his start and who gives him key advice as William tries to wrangle his Rolling Stone piece into something real.
I think that a lot of the success of the film comes from the way that it treats its characters with respect, and that's especially true in the case of the female groupies. It would be easy to make the characters the constant butt of jokes as basically dumb sluts, but instead the movie lets them have personalities and comedic moments of their own. Their evolving relationship with William---which straddles an uncomfortable but not unfunny line between pesky little brother and boyfriend--provides a series of funny moments without dehumanizing the characters. Part of the central premise of the film is the way that Penny is devalued by Russell, and it would have been gross hypocrisy for the movie to take a contemptuous approach to their characters.
Overall this was a fun, character-driven film. I think that it comes off well because it really nails the final act in a way that leaves every character changed and evolved from when we first met them.