Almost Famous Review
Almost Famous is a movie for many different audiences. It applies to music lovers, rock and roll fans, parents, teens, people chasing their dreams, and people that love nostalgia, or a throwback to the 70’s. It’s a movie that you can watch when you’re sad, happy, or mad, because it will put you in a good mood at anytime. The first thing I’ll go over is the plot of the movie.
The movie is mainly about Will, who is a 15 year old writer/journalist that is a senior in High School. It tells about his journey when he goes on tour with the fictional band “Stillwater”, and he first meets the “Band-Aid” named Penny Lane, then he is introduced to band members Jeff and Russell. Will ends up getting a call from Rolling Stone magazine and is assigned to write a story for them. So, Will goes on tour with Stillwater, and to sum it up, they have some problems at some of the venues, Russell and Penny Lane become lovers, Russell and Jeff fight, Will gets jealous of Russell, Will tries to finish up his story but can’t, then they get to New York. This is where Penny gets upset over seeing Russell with his wife, gets drunk and drugged up, and then she leaves on a plane after Will helps her out. Then the band leaves with Will on a flight, and there’s a huge storm and lots of turbulence. This is where the band lets off all their steam, and then they end up landing safely. Will then goes to Rolling Stones Offices and work with them on his story. The band ends up denying all of his story’s content. Russell then ends up calling Penny to resolve their situation, but ends up being tricked to go to Will’s and apologize. The movie ends with Will and Russell being friends again, Penny and Will finally go to Morocco together, and the band goes on tour again.
After going over the plot of the movie, I want to get into detail on the characters, and what I like about them and the movie.
My favorite characters for this movie are Will, Penny Lane, Russell, Elaine (the mom), Anita (the sister), and Lester Bangs, played by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.
The first character I’ll talk about is Elaine. Elaine is the mother of Will, and she provides great comedy in the film. She also shows the perspective of a parent, which makes the film even more diverse than it already is. My favorite scene with Elaine is probably when she’s on the phone with Russell Hammond, and she speaks words of wisdom to him in a comedic fashion. Elaine is overall a very funny character, and she provides some of the conflict in the movie by stressing Will about coming home.
The next character I’ll talk about is Anita. She’s the free-spirited, rebellious, and inspiring sister to Will in the movie. The reason for why I think she’s important to the plot, is due to how she provides her albums to Will, and gets him into rock and roll and music. She sort of kick-started his interest in music, and provides a nice end to the exposition when she leaves him the albums.
The character that plays as the best guide or role model to Will is Lester Bangs. Throughout the movie, he is a great help to Will, and sort of gets him back into reality when Will gets a little side-tracked with all the fun that he has on the tour. Lester is also the journalist and writer that Will looks up to the most, so Will does listen to him and follows his advice. At one point in the movie, Will even calls Lester as a friend, and Lester relates to Will and picks him up when he’s down.
Russell Hammond is a great character in the movie, since he is a friend and companion to Will, and he provides a good part of the conflict in the movie, too. The main love story of the movie is between him and Penny Lane, and this causes Will to be jealous, and it also causes some conflict between Russell and Penny later on. Another conflict that includes Russell is the one between him and Jeff, the lead singer of the band “Stillwater” that Russell is the guitarist for in the movie. The conflict between Jeff and Russell provides problems in the movie that move the plot along, and are necessary for the most part.
My second favorite character in the movie, and one of the most important characters, is Penny Lane. She is a wondrous, light-hearted, and mysterious girl. She’s one of those people that inspires and tries to put on a cool and mysterious persona, even though she’s a delicate person underneath. Penny is the main source of romance in Almost Famous, whether it’s with Will, or Russell. She’s the one that keeps Will in a sort of dreamy daze, and gets him out of the “real world.” She’s a great friend to Will, and is the perfect crush to him.
The best character in the movie, in my opinion, and the character that I can relate to the most, is Will. He is the main focus of the movie, it is told as his story after all, but of course he’s the best character, too. Will is quirky, awkward, humorous, relatable, and lovable. The journey he embarks on in the movie seems to change many things about him. After everything in the movie happens, he is more confident, and he seems to look at everything a different way. I can relate to him due to how he is awkward, like me, he is also in love with writing and music, like me. Will was my biggest inspiration from this movie, because he followed his dreams, and they became true in the end.
The message that I got from this movie is mainly simple things like, “follow your dreams”, “make music for the music, not the money”, and “don’t get caught up in your dream world.” All of the messages and themes in this movie are necessary and go along with the plot. Almost Famous is full of inspiration.
The characters that contrast each other are Lester Bangs and Penny Lane. Lester Bangs is a realist and sort of a pessimist, whereas Penny Lane is a dreamer and an optimist. They both help Will in the movie, but they do it in different ways. Penny Lane helps Will by showing him the dreamy lifestyle that she lives in, and she helps him directly on the tour they go on. Lester Bangs is helpful to Will by reminding him that he’s not actually friends with the band members and how people like them “aren’t cool.” Lester and Penny are polar opposites, and, in a way, act like the angel and devil on Will’s shoulders.
Almost Famous is one of my all time favorite movies. It’s very easy to watch, especially if you're into music or rock and roll. The characters are very relatable and easy to fall in love with, and the overall feel of the movie is very happy and dreamy, not to the point where it’d be sappy or “too happy,” but where it’s just the right amount.
Movie Grade: 9.5/10