Reviewing The Arts

Review of "Almost Famous"

“Almost famous” is a semi-autobiographical film directed by Cameron Crowe. In the nineteen seventies, a adolescent high school kid by the name of William Miller was given the opportunity to write a story about a rock band called Stillwater. William lived a very simple life where he was raised in a single parent household with an overprotective mother and rebellious sister. All of that changed once his sister let him listen to her rock records for the first time. Listening to rock & roll was a life changing experience for him; it took away his innocence. William loved rock & roll so much that he decided to become a writer for the music. Lester Bangs later became his mentor and periodically gave him advice to help him get noticed. Once noticed, William was presented with opportunity to write an article about Stillwater to be featured in Rollingstone magazine.

The whole movie was devoted to the love of Rock and Roll so if you aren’t a fan, then you will feel a little disconnected from the movie. There are a couple moments in this movie where one may feel like they may want to take a quick snooze. If one were to pursue in the slumber, the loud acoustics and drums would awaken them. Usually someone wouldn’t associate the words boring, dry, or bland with a rock and roll film but this one had its moments. On a positive note this film allows one to look deep in the lifestyles of rock and roll artists. It lets one see behind the music, behind the fans, behind the groupies, and behind the band. The ending could have been a whole lot better. The ending seemed as though it was rushed or that Crowe didn’t know how to end the movie. Towards the end, William goes back home to his mother. Unlike most movies about of rock and roll life, “Almost Famous” doesn't dwell on the depressing aspects of it. The movie had its fair share of personal drama and moments of heartache but it was not overwhelming.

posted by Sara Hunt @ 9:44 PM