Almost Famous (2000)

Directed by Cameron Crowe. Starring Patrick Fugit, Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand, Kate Hudson, Jason Lee, Noah Taylor, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Fairuza Balk, Anna Paquin, Zooey Deschanel, Terry Chen, Bijou Phillips, Jimmy Fallon, Mark Kozelek, Jay Baruchel, John Fedevich. [R]

Ingenuous teenager William Miller (Fugit) loves rock & roll (and loves writing about it), so he naturally jumps at the chance to go on tour with mid-level rock band Stillwater on a journalist assignment from Rolling Stone magazine. Writer/director Crowe based his Oscar-winning screenplay on his own journalist experiences on the road with Led Zeppelin, the Allman Brothers Bands, and others (Stillwater is a fictional composite of these groups), and it’s one of those lovingly-crafted, fully-engaging stories that gets so few things wrong—and so many things thrillingly right—that it almost feels miraculous. Led by a terrific ensemble cast, including McDormand as William’s hilariously anxious and protective mother, Hoffman doing a sardonic take on famed real-life rock critic Lester Bangs, and Hudson in a star-making performance playing elusive groupie (ahem, “band aid”) Penny Lane. The filmmaker’s love for the characters and the stirring freedom of rock music bursts out of every frame, with its Grammy-winning soundtrack featuring an eclectic mix of hits and deep cuts. Cameos incorporate singer Peter Frampton and comedian Mitch Hedberg, among others; Marc Maron and Rainn Wilson also appear briefly. An extended “bootleg cut” adds almost 40 minutes of additional material (most of the stuff, however, including an extended scene where characters just sit around listening to all eight minutes of “Stairway to Heaven,” adds little of true value).

93/100