ALMOST FAMOUS

(September 2000, U.S.)

Cameron Crowe's ALMOST FAMOUS is not a movie! It's a love letter - a truly moving love letter to Led-Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, the Allman Brothers Band, the Who, Lynyrd Skynyrd, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Elton John, Rolling Stone magazine, FM rock radio and all the things that made rock 'n' roll so fucking great in the early 1970's!

Even at the age of 43, I can still remember my very first rock and roll record (that's right, I said RECORD!). Elton John's Greatest Hits was the vinyl masterpiece that graduated me away from children's records at the tender age of 6 or so. This is a moment you don't easily forget; like a genuine right of passage that separate the child from, well, the OLDER child.

For the rest of this post, I'd like to stay focussed on a particular sequence that any and all fans of this film are more than familiar with: the film's fictitious band, Stillwater, has just experienced a very bad incident with its lead guitar player that stands to likely destroy the band's morale. Everyone is riding in absolute silence on the tour bus. The tension surrounding them is deafening. The only sound on the bus is that of Elton John's classic "Tiny Dancer". Suddenly, without any sort of provocation, one of the band members begins to sing along. One man's voice is contagious as it leads to more people in the bus singing the song. Smiles slowly replace frowns and the bus becomes alive with music, singing and renewed comradery. Because what this entire sequence shows is that a rock song can be great, but when it's shared by others in a moment when human beings may experience sadness or weakness, that rock song can lift the spirits and become truly meaningful. Honestly, if you liked "Tiny Dancer" before seeing ALMOST FAMOUS, you find that you absolutely LOVE IT after seeing the film.

ALMOST FAMOUS reaches out to not only those who love classic rock (and those who remember classic rock when it was new), but to everyone who has allowed music to enter their lives and give it significance, and if possible, to give their lives the change that it perhaps needs at the right moment.

Favorite line or dialogue:

Jeff Bebe: "Some people have a hard time explaining rock 'n' roll. I don't think anyone can really explain rock 'n' roll. Maybe Pete Townshend, but that's okay. Rock 'n' roll is a lifestyle and a way of thinking...and it's not about money and popularity. Although some money would be nice. But it's a voice that says, "Here I am...and fuck you if you can't understand me." And one of these people is gonna save the world. And that means that rock 'n' roll can save the world...all of us together. And the chicks are great. But what it all comes down to is that thing. The indefinable thing when people catch something in your music."