Rating: 
Summary: The movie made me young again
Review: For one stunning moment, it was the 1970's again and my life was perfect. The movie was a loving reminder of my youth and it brought me back there again, it all came alive for me in such a personal way. Almost Famous struck so many emotional and melodic chords that for the first time I truly appreciated every convoluted and glorious moment spent in every day-glow painted bedroom. The movie was like a backstage pass into life. For a good part of the movie, I WAS YOUNG AGAIN, I hated it when the movie was over and the only way to get that feeling again is to play the movie again. It's addicting. I wanted to hold Penny Lane just one more time and be there listening to Zepplin, Yes and the Allman Brothers.... To relive the parties, the concerts and the experiences of my youth in a carefree manner... Oh what a glorious movie. If you don't own this movie, you must. It is a great ballad to the rock bands, those who love music and to all of us who grew up to the passionate, moving and emotional rock music and times of the 60's and 70's You will watch Almost Famous and listen to the wonderfully produced soundtracks over and over and over again. Have a good trip.... I just wish I never came down...
Rating: 
Summary: Somewhat Disappointed
Review: As a fan of most of Cameron Crowe's other work, I was somewhat disappointed with this movie. It wasn't terrible or the worst movie of the year as some reviewers here seem to think. It also wasnt' great or one of the best of the year. It was good, but I also thought it was very boring. The acting was outstanding by Crudup, Fugit, Hudson, McDormand, and Seymour Hoffman. The screenplay was good, I was very happy to see Cameron Crowe finally win an award. He won the Oscar for best screenplay. The idea of this movie really seemed like a good one to me, and when I first watched the movie, I was pretty happy with the outcome. Then recently I watched it again and was bored. I kept saying, did i really like this? It just seemed so lame and to not be going anywhere. Maybe it just isn't one of the movies, for me anyway, that I can view repeatedly. The music I could certainly listen to over and over. The soundtrack is better than the movie.
I just thought the story was really not all that interesting or entertaining. It seemed to drag, and it wasn't particularly funny. If it was supposed to be, I don't know where I was supposed to laugh.
It's certainly worth a look at for the great acting and soundtrack and screenplay. It's just not all that fun to watch. I compare it to another Crowe movie, Jerry McGuire. This movie had so much hype, like Almost, and when I saw it in the theaters, I fell asleep!!! I am a woman, and I love romance comedies. I didn't think either of these films were much of either but more of a sleep aid.
I think Crowe's best work was Singles and Say Anything. They were both very entertaining comedies.
Rating:
Summary: A truly great one!
Review: From beginning to end, I really loved this movie. Its cast alone is enough to please even the harshest of Cameron Crowe's critics. Patrick Fugit plays a naive but completely understandable precocious aspiring teen writer.Billy Crudup plays the brooding and unexpectedly accessable lead guitarist of the vaguely "Allman Brothers/Led Zepplinesque band, Stillwater. Jason Lee, who in my eyes truly cannot do any wrong, plays a hilarious foil to Crudup's character, trying so hard not to fall into his guitarist's shadow that every effort he makes not to pushes him more out of the limelight. His performance is truly groundbreaking and I don't mind saying that he's got even the rest of this awesome cast beat! Philip Seymour Hoffman plays the overly knowledgeable editor to one of the magazines Fugit's character is writing for and gives sage advice to him while still being a vulnerable little nerd who knows way too much about music, while kind of hating musicians at the same time. As with most of his portrayals, he has a way of stealing his scenes very subtly. Kate Hudson does an adequate job of pulling Fugit's character "into" what he's supposed to observe from the "outside." I prefer the more suble performances of Anna Paquin (an Oscar winner, you will remember) and Fairuza Balk. They play just as convincingly the "fan" roles, or truly, the groupies. My only real regret about this movie is that they don't use Anna Paquin more. She has been so good in so many things lately (e.g.--HurlyBurly, and she was even excellent in the X-men movie, however little it allowed her to show off her acting chops). Anyhow, with an outstanding cast and very good story writing, this movie really pulls it off. I was so disappointed that it didn't walk away with the best picture Oscar. So often, a movie with a "less serious tone" such as this cannot win that coveted honor. Well, in my opinion, this one is right up there!
Rating:
Summary: An excellent feel good movie
Review: If you liked Cameron Crowe's other well known effort Jerry Maguire then this movie will probably leave you with the same satisfied "nice" feeling and the same silly grin on your face.
A semi autobiographical work it creeps along with humor, sentimentalism and a strong cast, ultimatly leaving you with an affectionate look back on rock culture and what it means to the musicians and the fans alike. Patrick Fugit does a very good job as the young man in question and Billy Crudrup and the always great Jason Lee (Chasing Amy, Mallrats) are equally good in support. Kate Hudson is the revelation, as Penny Lane she exerts the same beauty, and strange mixture of innoncence yet world weariness as a 70's Holly Golightly and by the end of the movie you feel as though you could fall in love with her in an instant, which if anything adds credibility to the fact that most men in the movie seem to do this. The soundtrack is fantastic, and while I do have a soft spot for the kind of music from the late 60's and of the early 70's I was never really a fan of some of the artists used... but it was perfectly complimentary, and the scene on the tour bus with Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" never fails to make me smile and feel good, although i've never liked his music in the slightest. So credit must go to the director for this scene. It might be too sugary for some tastes, but I found it just about sweet enough, i cringed in all the right places, i laughed a lot, i envied the main character and so generally fell into every emotional trap the director set for us, not once, but on repeat viewings also. In short an excellent feel good movie, not quite Jerry Maguire, but close enough, and more importantly, different. I should also note the special features, which were very good and added value to the dvd, especially so the Rolling Stones articles of a young Cameron Crowe, which consisted of in-depth interviews with (amongst others) Led Zeppelin, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, fascinating reading, especially as I've already said, i have a soft spot for some artists from this time, these being some of them.
Rating: 
Summary: Almost the Seventies
Review: I had heard and seen so much hype about this movie that I went into the viewing with some loathing. As it turns out it is not a movie to loath but one to embrace at least for the moment as it transports you back to that heady time that was the early seventies. It occurrs to me that this movie will make more sense and have more meaning to people in their forties as (we) lived it about the same time that Cameron Crowe did. The movie is a bit of a "cop out" as it does not hold true to Crowe's actual/factual experience of being on tour with Led Zeppelin. Now that would have been a 5 Star movie. Instead we are treated to the on tour saga of a fictional Stillwater complete with a photograph of the band sitting on anvil cases a la Allman Bros. Band Live at Fillmore East. Two stand out perfomances are Phillip Seymore as Lester Bangs and Jason Lee as the lead singer of Stillwater. I read damn near every word Lester ever wrote and I do see him coming off as very cynical but not introverted and uncool as depicted in the film. Lester/Phillip does have some good lines like: "Hey man I'm always home, I'm not cool." Some problems I have with Almost are constant references to the year 1973 when some of the soundtrack songs are from many years forward. Russell on top of a house with a head full of acid shouting, "i am a golden god". A quote later attributed to Robert Plant in Hammer of the Gods. Crowe's homage to his time with Led Zeppelin? Not enough sex and drugs but plenty of booze and beer. A very watered down seventies. Great soundtrack, great acting, good movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Another DVD release???
Review: This review pertains to the Almost Famous Untitled - The Bootleg Cut (Director's Edition) which is another example of studio executives taking advantage of loyal customers by coming out with yet ANOTHER DVD version to suck the very last penny out of those same fans who made the film successful to begin with! I am so tired of this marketing strategy bs! ONE STAR! Don't buy it! Wait till the "Almost Famous - Expanded Edition" or the "Almost Famous - Criterion Edition" or the "Almost Famous - Platinum Edition containing a commentary with Cameron Crowe's sister-in-law!"
Rating: 
Summary: Rehash
Review: I was actually excited when I saw the previews for this movie. The problem with this movie isn't the story. It's the screen play (cookie cutter formula for people who didn't live through the 1970's), the script (unbelievably predictable), the acting (marginal at best, but not horrible) and the music (similar to a bad Led Zeppelin). If you end up liking this movie you might want to see "Detroit Rock City".
Rating:
Summary: As enjoyable as a punch in the face
Review: This movie, if we can call it that, is absolutely, totally, reprehensibly pathetic on all accounts. Seeing the plethora of positive reviews here makes me almost lose my faith in mankind. This movie is to films what britney spears is to music, what pink donuts are to food, what the brady bunch is to tv. After enduring scene after scene of nauseating treacle I had to switch this video off, much to the applause of my fellow viewers.
Everything in Almost Famous reeks of heavy handed sentimentality; how sweet it is when the groupie chick takes a shying to our what, 10 year old journalist protagonist? How poignant it is when billy crudup goes to the party and spends time with "real people". How humorous it is when journalist boy speaks like a man over the phone. This, friends, is sarcasm. The characterisations and plot are as about as thin and 2 dimensional as a goddamn soap opera. Beleive me, I love movies, and I know what a good movie is. I also know what a crowd-pleasing, multiplex filling, heart warming excuse for a film is. Almost Famous is just that. This movie is a glass of Coke, a Happy Meal, an icecream sundae, it's designed to go down easy. I can only imagine that the majority of reviewers for this film are slightly overweight women who wear disney pyjamas, drink hot cocoa at night, listen to bryan adams and destiny's child with alarming regulairty, and tape the repeats of party of five whilst they watch Friends. If a movie as bad as this can get ratings and make as much money as good as this, then god help us all.
Rating:
Summary: Love and Rock and Roll
Review: This is a beautiful film. Sublimely watchable, with character and definition, this film is not only a beating heart, but the beating heart of rock and roll. It fills the screen with love and humanity, with music and energy and cinematic vitality. It's the ultimate "warm and fuzzy" film of the last twenty years. Pretty, sweet, honest, and fun (not to mention outrageously funny- "I am a Golden God!", "She freaked me out."), this is a film that thrives on the antithesis of cynicism. With great performances from Philip Seymour Hoffman, Billy Crudup, and Kate Hudson, as well as some great stuff from Jason Lee.... Patrick Fugit is a definite revelation. Watch and enjoy, with a smile on your face.
Rating:
Summary: Great Music Movie
Review: If you like 70's era rock and roll this is the movie for you. If you are simply a "good movie fan" this will also be a great watch. Cameron Crowe makes movies that seem to blend between the visuals and the soundtrack to help tell the story. This is no exception to his usual brilliance. Please give this one a shot. You won't be disappointed.
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