Almost Famous

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Almost Famous (2000) springs from writer/director Cameron Crowe’s experiences as a writer for Rolling Stone magazine, including his interactions with The Allman Brothers, The Who, and the Eagles. (Crowe won an Oscar for Best Screenplay for this movie). The character William Miller (Patrick Fugit) is Crowe’s alter-ego, and he and others associated with rock and roll celebrities are famous adjacent, noteworthy by association. The film deals with the nature of celebrity, its highs and lows and the fallout on those that enter its sphere, along with the need to be independent, and not a follower.

The opening credits show how personal the story is for Crowe. A desk drawer opens and it has memorabilia of his association with rock bands. A person hand writes some of the credits on a paper pad, showing the analog period in which the tale is told.

The movie begins in San Diego with young William (Michael Angarano) talking to his mother, Elaine Miller (Frances McDormand, with yet another Oscar nomination, this time for supporting actress. They discuss To Kill a Mockingbird and Shakespeare. Their exchange shows her intellectual bent.

Daughter Anita (Zoe Deschanel) comes into the house, and Elaine, a college professor, is immediately suspicious of her activities. She knows that she has been kissing a boy, and she discovers that Anita has a Simon and Garfunkel album she is clutching under her coat. Elaine warns of how modern music is about sex and drugs and says the musical duo pictured on the album cover are “on pot.” These allegations seem ridiculous to us now, knowing of the beauty and insight of Simon and Garfunkel’s music. Mom is pushing vegetarian foods and not celebrating Christmas in September, not December, but when the holiday will not be commercialized. Anita asks, “What else are you gonna ban?” It is interesting that Elaine, a supposed liberal, can be repressive in her self-righteous attitudes.

Anita pushes the supposedly knowledge-championing Elaine into telling William the truth about his age. He thinks he started school early and is twelve years old. Mom had him skip a grade and he is really eleven. The boy already feels put upon by others because he is underdeveloped according to them. Anita says that mom has deprived him of reaching puberty at the same time as his peers. Self-righteous Elaine says, “Adolescence is a marketing tool,” as if it doesn’t really exist. Elaine does not believe in being “typical.” Her rebelliousness against anything accepted by others stigmatizes younger people looking for community among their peers.

Anita leaves to be a stewardess, ready to travel, which Elaine said William should do when he gets older. But Elaine sees William as “unique,” and her daughter as “ungrateful” of her love just because she is “rebellious.” Elaine also rebels against society, but she doesn’t tolerate any deviation from her own ideas. Anita tells William that “one day you’ll be cool,” which is what William yearns for, since it is a path to being revered by others, and eventually, becoming famous. Anita leaves him her record collection under his bed, to help him along the way to the realm of coolness. She leaves a note for William to play Tommy by The Who, and says he will hear his future listening to the album. It is an interesting choice. Tommy, who is not able to hear, speak, or see, is an outsider. His ability to be a pinball wizard despite his handicaps allows him to become famous by being “cool.” But then, he wants to mold everyone into his own image, and his followers reject him for forcing his version of conformity on the masses. It is sort of an ironic message for William, and it sounds like a version of what happened to Elaine.

The story jumps forward to 1973, and the teenage William hears music critic Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who visits San Diego, spout his views on the current state of rock and roll on the radio. The name “Bangs” fits what he does, whacking at the music industry. William meets Lester at the radio studio. He has been sending pieces he writes, and Lester admits William is a good writer. But his advice is the opposite of what his sister wanted for her brother. To be a music critic one must be “uncool,” Lester says. That allows the writer to be objective. He must be “honest” and “unmerciful.” He says that the bands will just try to bribe the critic with booze, drugs, and women to write praiseworthy reviews. He advises that the rock musicians are “not your friends.” Lester realizes that William will not be better off being a lawyer, which what his mother wanted, and he gives him a job to write about the group, Black Sabbath.

William isn’t allowed to go backstage for his interview. Outside he meets Penny Lane (yes, from the Beatles song). Kate Hudson (also nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar) plays Penny, who tells William she altered the groupies into what she calls the “Band Aids.” They are here to inspire the musicians. She says they do not have intercourse with the band members just to become close to those who are famous, although one girl says they do give “blow jobs,” which compromises the mission.

William’s knowledge of an opening band called Stillwater wins over the musicians, who at first called him “the enemy,” and they let him go backstage. (Peter Frampton wrote the Stillwater songs for the film). The band first says they play for the audience, not critics. But when William compliments them, they enjoy the praise. The film shows that everyone likes the critics when they are favorable and condemns them when they are negative. A band member has the belief that rock and roll can change the world, but admits to lower ambitions saying the money is good, and “the chicks are great.”

Penny catches up with William to give him a backstage pass, so she does follow up on her intentions. She plays with his face and tells him, “now you look mysterious.” It’s as if one must have an air of mystery, an element of being “cool,” to become popular. Just upfront honesty does not appear to be enough. William introduces Penny to Stillwater member Russell Hammond (Bully Cudrup), and there appears to be chemistry between the two. After the concert, Russell tells William to visit the band in LA and bring Penny with him. He is going under the name of “Harry Houdini.” Using an escape artist’s name, again, shows mystery is part of the cool allure.

To stress the divide between the cool and the uncool, when Penny tells William they live in the same city, he says they live in two different worlds, despite their proximity. She says she has decided to live in Morocco for a year, saying she needs to find a new crowd. Her words suggest that the Band Aid world of girls with rock stars has become jaded for her. She asks him if he wants to go with her, and the excited William, hoping to break out of his uncool world, says yes.

William lies to his mother about where he is going, and travels with Penny to LA to the Hyatt House hotel, which Russell called “The Riot House,” the play on words showing the contrast between a cool name and an uncool one. There are nerdy types running around gushing about seeing members of Led Zeppelin and getting autographs, wanting to decrease the degrees of separation from those who are famous.

Polexia Aphrodisia (Anna Paquin), one of the Band Aids, tells William that Penny used him so she could get close to Russell, showing how self-interest exists even under the appearance of camaraderie. Later, Penny admits to William that she sees Russell as her last project. She is true to her words about not just being a groupie. She actually wants to help Russell live up to his potential for greatness.

Rolling Stone gets wind of William’s writing and calls him to do a piece on Stillwater. William contacts Lester who again tells him not to be friends with the musicians and that the magazine consists of “swill merchants.” While talking, he wears a shirt that says, “Detroit Sucks,” so cynical has he become. He flies his negativity like a nihilistic flag.

Mom, with great trepidation, insisting on academic standards being kept, and stating “no drugs,” her mantra, allows William to go on tour with the band. When she calls, one of the Band Aids answers, who tells mom that William is doing a great job, is a real gentleman, and is still a virgin. In other words, his uncoolness remains intact. William’s phone call to his mother later occurs while another Band Aid talks about his “purple aura,” and that she has pot for him, which shows how William is caught between two worlds.

William keeps trying to get an interview with Russell, but the musician says he’ll talk off the record, because he doesn’t want honesty to tarnish his being “cool.” But, he admits some of the band’s actions, like being unfaithful to girlfriends and wives back home, should not be discovered by “millions.” Russell also admits that the more success the band has, it becomes harder to split from them, since he feels he is a more advanced musician. He says he and William should be friends for the night, which is what Lester advised against, since journalistic integrity is lost without objectivity. What the audience is seeing here is how art and personality are two separate worlds. While a bandmate still doesn’t trust a journalist among them, he admits it would be cool to be on the cover of Rolling Stone. The ambivalent world of rock stars is evident here.

At a concert, Russell receives an electric shock from an ungrounded microphone. This scene is based on a true event. According to IMDb, Les Harvey of Stone the Crows died due to being electrocuted by an ungrounded mic. Here, the image implies how being in a rock band, which is rebellious while still seeking acceptance, can be dangerous.

In Topeka, the band has a blow-up about T-shirts that depict Russell large and the others out-of-focus in the background. The lead singer, Jeff Bebe (Jason Lee) is particularly feeling unappreciated by Russell. After the argument, Russell grabs William to go out and find some “real people, real feelings.” That suggests that the rock business is feeling phony to him. He, as well as Penny and some others, may find that they can be close to William because of his youth. They may be attracted to what they see is his innocence, his lack of corruption.

Russell says William is real and finally asks about him. William admits to his father dying of a heart attack and how his mother and sister don’t talk. There is some actual sharing in the moment. Then they get invited to a party by passersby, and Russell agrees that they should go. Russell feels that connecting to these “real people” are what he is after. At the party, he is feeling intellectual, talking about how George Orwell’s predictions in 1984 are coming true. The response is that one guy wants to show him feed a mouse to his snake. So much for grand ideas.

William becomes the adult here as he warns the partygoers not to give Russell more LSD. Instead of connecting with real people, Russell delves into the delusional, yelling out, “I am a golden god!” which was attributed to Led Zeppelin singer, Robert Plant. He is on the roof and says that his last words are “I’m on drugs” which the crowd prefers to “I dig music,” and they want him to risk his life, jumping into the pool then just going back to the hotel. The movie implies that the fans want the outrageous from their idols so they can live vicariously through their heroes doing actions that they can’t or won’t do.

William gets Russell back with the band and bad feelings evaporate as the whole touring bus sings along to Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer.” So, music is still the glue that holds them together. William needs to get his interview with Russell before going home. Penny tells him he is “home.” And there lies the conflict. William is in and out of his true home.

In the hotel room William gets advice over the phone from Lester about how to stall Rolling Stone by calling his article a “think-piece” about a “mid-level band” dealing with fame. It may be a ploy, but it actually fits what’s going on. When William asks Penny, after she continues to name-drop rock stars, if she knows any regular people, she says “famous people are more interesting.” That shows the opposite drive from a regular person, as opposed to Russell’s urge to connect with “real” people. They show the desire to break out of where one currently resides.

The Band Aids decide to “de-flower” William, but Penny does not participate. Their friendship appears to be on a different level. The other girls are just playing around with no real connection to the young writer. When he asks them who he is to them he gets his answer when they tell him to take out the laundry.

Now in Cleveland, he has a phone call with his mother. Russell interrupts it and tells Elaine that William is fine, and they are taking good care of him. She, however, cuts through his crap, and tells him that he can overcome his debauchery to reach greatness, and that he would not want to meet up with her if anything unsavory happens to her son. Russell alters his attitude, becoming subservient, as if receiving parental guidance that he needed.

Dennis Hope (Jimmy Fallon) arrives, a big-name band promoter, saying Stillwater needs to move fast to capitalize on their increasing success. (His name “Hope” is a bit ironic here, as he is more for opportunity than the idealistic feel of “hope). He says they must cash in quickly, saying Mick Jagger will not make it as a rock star when he’s fifty. (Jagger still tours at age 82. So, the implication is that one can play the long game). But Stillwater goes with Hope, and they trade in their trusty touring bus for an airplane for transportation to reach more gigs quicker.

William witnesses a card game between rock band members, and Russell agrees to give up Penny and the other Band Aids for fifty dollars and a case of beer to the rock group Humble Pie. William is becoming more cynical about the rock business, and accepts the original idea of him, being a journalist, as “the enemy” who can expose secrets. When Penny wants to go to New York to pursue Russell it is William who tells her to “wake up,” since Leslie (Liz Stauber), Russell’s girlfriend, will be there. He then tells her about the poker game. She tries to hide her hurt. As William points out there is so much phoniness, that they live in a made-up life, with invented names.

In New York, Leslie shows up, but so does Penny, and she is crushed when another band member says she is with him as a diversion. After William tells the band they will be on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, Penny runs off and tries to overdose on Quaaludes. William follows her and calls a doctor at the hotel. She is alone as she feels deserted since the other Band Aids have gone off with other rock groups. She is collateral damage to the fame of others. William says a funny line to the almost unconscious Penny when he changes the opening line of Star Trek by saying he’s going where many have gone before, and tells her he loves her, which he follows with a kiss.

As Penny gets her stomach pumped, we ironically hear “My Cherie Amour,” whose lyrics about the pretty little girl who is adored contrast with the upsetting scene before William. Later he finally learns her real name is Lady Goodman, which she says her mother thought she would become and who she would marry. He says goodbye as she flies back home to San Diego.

The band is on a plane that hits an electrical storm. When it looks like they might not make it, they start to shout out confessions. One admits to being a hit-and-run driver, another says he is gay, Jeff says he slept with Leslie, and the affair between Russell and Penny comes out. When they call Penny just a “groupie,” William gets angry and says she cared about the band and they just used her, and he was in love with her. The threat of death makes everyone become real quickly, no longer hiding behind their false personas. As Russell and William say goodbye, Russell no longer is trying to suppress anything ugly about the band. He tells William to write whatever he wants.

At the Rolling Stone office William is grilled about what he has submitted, and he asks for one night to clean up the story. He talks to Lester, who again tells him he can’t be friends with the musicians. He knows they made William feel “cool,” but he is not cool, and neither is Lester. They are the “uncool.” And, Lester says most great art is about them. He says the art of those who are cool doesn’t last. The real art is about, “pain and conflict and guilt and longing.” Lester again says the best William can do for the musicians is to be “honest and unmerciful.”

William writes honestly and the magazine loves his story, especially about the confessions on the airplane. But when the factchecker calls the band, they feel like they all come off badly, in other words “uncool,” which is exactly how they behaved. The film suggests honesty that shows people as vulnerable is not what hero-worshipping is about. Russell denies almost all of the story, and the magazine drops William’s piece.

William meets his sister, Anita, at the airport in San Francisco. She sees that he has broken free of their mother and says they can have an adventure together. But, he decides at this point he needs the comfort and safety of home after his initiation into the actualities of his idealized vision of modern musicians. Mom is happy to see both her children despite their disobeying her. The implication is that unconditional love works that way.

At the end of the Stillwater tour, it takes one of the Band Aids, Sapphire (Fairuza Balk), to shame Russell about ditching Penny, almost causing her suicide, and denying William’s story. She says that being a true fan is dedicating yourself to the music and the band that creates it. Here, the dedicated fans come off as the honest ones.

Russell calls Penny. At first he lies, saying there are a lot of people around, so he can’t say much. He then realizes truth is the way to go and admits he is alone. He says he is sorry, and he’s best when he is around her. He wants her address so he can, this time, come to her.

She gives him an address, but it is William’s. When he arrives, Elaine says there’s hope for Russell yet, and she’s right. He called Rolling Stone and said everything William wrote was true. He realizes that they both wanted to be with Penny, but she wanted them to be together, so that is why she gave him William’s address. Russell realizes he never knew Penny’s real name. William smiles, because he does, which makes him feel special. William finally gets the interview with Russell he was aiming for, and it will be an honest one.

Penny flies off to Morocco where she said she always wanted to go. She seems to realize that it’s not just famous people who are interesting. By following her dream, so is she.