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And for a 15-year-old with a passion for music and a desire
to be a rock journalist, Miller gets a great start in life
by scoring a commission for Rolling Stone magazine
to write on Black Sabbath.
Now stage-door bouncers being what they are - big, thick
bastards with their knuckles dragging on the ground - he can't
get to see Sabbath, but does manage to get in with some Band-Aids
(not groupies) who introduce him to the support act Stillwater.
From there the band members and groupies take him under their
collective wings and, despite the fact they call him "the
enemy" - being a journalist - they take good care of
him.
Set in the 1970s, Almost Famous is an autobiographical love
letter by Cameron Crowe, who began his writing career with
an under-age piece in Rolling Stone, to rock
music.
The movie follows the ups and downs of the band, their fights,
loves and the youngster's trials and tribulations of trying
to get a think piece together on the band.
Almost Famous is a fully-flavoured look behind-the-scenes
of rock and roll that has laughs, drama, music and a very
good storyline.
Fugit is terrific as Miller and Kate Hudson is marvellous
as the old-before-her-time groupie, but the outstanding performances
come from Philip Seymour Hoffman as the terribly jaded rock
journo Lester Bangs and Frances McDormand who is the kid's
frightening, but loving, mum.
Billy Crudup is the beefcake lead guitarist and other actors
of note are Noah Taylor as the band's manager and Anna Paquin
as another groupie.
Almost Famous goes for just under two hours and the
time flies by. Watch for the stormy plane ride for a heap
of laughs!
The transfer is very good, as is the audio - which is particularly
strong during the concerts.
Conclusion: Movie 90%, Extras 80%
Continued:
DVD details at a glance >
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