This would’ve been so much better with Richard Linklater at the helm. There are a handful of decent scenes, but so much of this feels like it belongs on the Disney Channel. Most of the acting is really bad, some parts are downright problematic and cringy to look at now (it might’ve been interesting to have a discussion about some of those issues, but instead it’s just glossed over to keep this schmaltzy, feel good tone), the cinematography and lighting are uninspired and some of the logic/character motivations/dialogue are really weird. I get that it’s meant to be heightened, but a lot of this movie feels so phony and inauthentic, I get the feeling it’s blissfully unaware of its own corniness. That’s also why I don’t buy the turn our main character makes in the third act, there’s little to no motivation behind it. Again, it all goes back to the problem that it doesn’t want to put in the work dramatically in the first two acts, but then wants to have its cake and eat it too in the third act. It keeps a decent pace, I guess, and the music is good, but I got very little out it besides that.
4/10
Review by kIllER_in_REdddBlockedParentSpoilers2023-05-20T18:35:50Z
Cameron Crowe Definitely one of my favorite directors and perhaps the best in the genre. The amount of masterpieces he directed (Jerry Maguire, We Bought A Zoo, Vanilla Sky,...) created high expectations in my cinematic personality.
So, I was researching where I could (re)watch the movies I have on my watchlist when I found out that Almost Famous would be on a sunny afternoon of March 5th on AXN White. So, in my pretentious wisdom, I recorded it without knowing that I would actually enjoy it very much.
Everything is perfect. The plot is basic and linear, but appealing and well done. The excess of the time, the constant addiction to drink, drugs and partying is portrayed perfectly in the work, thus being able to reflect on a time when daydreaming was the most common method of survival.
I found it amusing to see a younger Patrick Fugit, since I had also seen him in We Bought A Zoo. Overall, very good performance for someone who was only 18 when he made this film. Russell Hammond, as a character, represents the duality of both the era and the people, who easily corrupted by the advantages of the stardom of the era perform acts that only satisfy them, not thinking of those around them. However, the character that touched me the most was, without any shadow of a doubt, Lester Bangs (played by the great Philip Seymour Hoffman, may he rest in peace). Lester is undoubtedly the character who has the greatest sense of how false appearances and friendships created in stardom are. As someone down to earth, he tries to guide and be William's passive mentor, giving him advice that allows him to distinguish the true from the nefariously false.
I must say that the revelations made in the storm scene when they are on the plane are truly hilarious. I burst out laughing when the latter says out of the blue that he is gay.
So, the plot, the atmosphere, the characters, the script and the comic scenes in the film allow me to give it a 5/5 rating.