September 21–28, 2000

movie shorts

Almost Famous

Based on his years as a teenage journalist for Rolling Stone, Cameron Crowe’s follow-up to Jerry Maguire is his most personal film by far, and not just because it so closely resembles his own life. Since Say Anything…’s Lloyd Dobler wooed Diane Court with a boombox and hope in his heart, Crowe’s proved himself to be one of rock ’n’ roll’s most fervent cinematic acolytes, and in Almost Famous, music is the glue that binds people together; it’s the way they say what can’t be said. Patrick Fugit stars as William Miller, the 15-year-old Crowe stand-in who gets his first Rolling Stone assignment following the up-and-coming Stillwater, a Zeppelin-ish band who’s coming to the point when stardom starts to threaten friendship. But just when things are at their worst, music — in this case Elton John’s "Tiny Dancer" — comes in to save the day, and remind everyone of the mutual love that’s brought them together. When William’s sister leaves home and wills him her record collection, he runs his hands over the covers with such love and awe that the whole of High Fidelity is eclipsed in a few seconds. Crowe has a tendency for overstatement (when William’s sister makes her bequest, she tells him, "Look under your bed; it’ll set you free"), but the film has moments of undeniable brilliance, most of them involving Philip Seymour Hoffman’s turn as Lester Bangs.

—Sam Adams

See Sam Adams’ interview with writer-director Cameron Crowe and actor Patrick Fugit.