Almost Famous

Almost Famous (2000) starring Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand, Kate Hudson, Jason Lee, Patrick Fugit, Philip Seymour Hoffman. Directed by Cameron Crowe. In 1973, a 15-year-old writer (Fugit) gets a dream assignment: to write an article for Rolling Stone about a mid-level rock band, and to travel with the band for  part of their tour. Based on director Crowe's real-life experiences as a young writer for Rolling Stone, the movie gets behind the façade of the rock band's public face, and reveals things that they would rather not have the public know. The name of the fictional band is Stillwater (I've never heard of them, anyway), and they are led by the charismatic Crudup. McDormand plays the writer's mother, and Hudson plays a groupie whom he falls in love with. It's a better movie than you might expect, very well made and capturing a quintessential time in American pop culture. (Subtitles are provided for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: B+