Almost Famous (2000)

A high-school boy is given the chance to write a story for Rolling Stone Magazine about an up-and-coming rock band as he accompanies it on their concert tour.

Director:

Cameron Crowe

Writer:

Cameron Crowe

Stars:

Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand, Kate Hudson

Won 1 Oscar. Another 50 wins & 80 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Billy Crudup	...	Russell Hammond
Frances McDormand	...	Elaine Miller
Kate Hudson	...	Penny Lane
Jason Lee	...	Jeff Bebe
Patrick Fugit	...	William Miller
Zooey Deschanel	...	Anita Miller
Michael Angarano	...	Young William
Anna Paquin	...	Polexia Aphrodisia
Fairuza Balk	...	Sapphire
Noah Taylor	...	Dick Roswell
John Fedevich	...	Ed Vallencourt
Mark Kozelek	...	Larry Fellows
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Lester Bangs
Liz Stauber	...	Leslie
Jimmy Fallon	...	Dennis Hope

Storyline

William Miller is a 15 year old kid, hired by Rolling Stone magazine to tour with, and write about Stillwater, an up and coming rock band. This wonderfully witty coming of age film follows William as he falls face first to confront life, love, and lingo.

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Plot Keywords:

tour | band | magazine | rolling stone magazine | rock band | 

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Taglines:

Experience it. Enjoy it. Just don't fall for it.

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, drug content and brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Vinyl Films

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 September 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Something Real

Filming Locations:

1047 Maple St, Santa Monica, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£511,896 (UK) (9 February 2001)

Gross:

ESP 129,054,292 (Spain) (29 June 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, DreamWorks SKG, Vinyl Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min 162 min (director's cut) 152 min (DVD extended cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The song "Fever Dog" written by Peter Frampton is similar to the opening song "Four Day Creep" on Humble Pie's live album "Rockin' The Fillmore" (Frampton was lead guitar in Humble Pie).

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Goofs

When William meets Lester Bangs for the first time and walks with him, the bag over his shoulder changes position often between angles.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Elaine Miller: I can't believe you wanna be Atticus Finch. Oh, that makes me feel so good.
Young William: I like him.

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Crazy Credits

At the end of the movie, one can hear a record changer playing the outgoing groove of a record, the needle lifting, and the player shutting off.

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Connections

Referenced in Jeopardy!: 2005 College Championship Quarterfinal 5 (2005)

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Soundtracks

"The Oogum Boogum Song"
Written by Brenton Wood (as Alfred Smith)
Performed by Brenton Wood
Exclusive owner Original Sound Records

User Reviews

Surprisingly sweet dramedy hits the mark

This film may have just one flaw- it aims too high. But that doesn't matter in this world. Here, we see the autobiographical tale of Cameron Crowe (writer/director and co-producer of this film) in his days as a young writer for Rolling Stone (one story I think) as seen by William Miller. He follows a rock band called Stillwater (much to mom's dismay played well by Frances McDormand) on a Almost Famous tour with rockers, groupies and bandaids. Real sweetness comes when the worlds of Miller and the band combine and dramedy kicks in. Quite the Crowe picture, one of his best ones, that takes a look at the days of rock when it was still cool to do drugs, have sex and be cool singing Elton John in a bus (that scene was the highlight). Band members include Billy Crudup, Jason Lee and others including Fairuza Balk, Anna Paquin, and in a exceptional performance, the free spirited Penny Lane played by Kate Hudson. This film is definately in my top 25 list of the year. A-