Rating: 
Summary: A perfectly enjoyable film
Review: I like Cameron Crowe's sensibility, and in a climate where all movies are "edgy" or "lightning-paced" a movie like Almost Famous is a welcome breather.Cameron Crowe's loose fictionalization of his stint as a journalist for Creem and Rolling Stone can take you back to a time in your life where music really mattered and hit you on a personal level; all the references and the soundtrack can really spark your memory. And watching Patrick Fugit portray an intelligent, kind, passionate, and yet, uncool, music fan strikes a real chord in the heart of every aging teen misfit. The real blind spot of this movie lies with the lack of emotional substance: as a journalist, William has been warned to remain impartial to the celebrity of musicians, which he does, but he also seems distant from the music itself; Kate Hudson as Penny Lane idolizes the band, but mostly you see her involved in a damaged, temporary fling with no emotional component; Frances McDormand is the greatest success here, yet her maternal embraces kind of fall into a litany of "don't do drugs, and remember you can't swim" - you get the idea. Even with that, Cameron Crowe's films can't be held to that strict a standard. He makes solid films with some reliable emotional spots, with no pretensions to grand style - like a journalist. While Almost Famous may have some glossed over spots, I can think of many other worse ways to spend an evening.
Rating: 
Summary: Memories of the Seventies
Review: This won't be to everyone's taste but it's an affectionate nod to the pop scene of the early seventies which by today's standards seems like classical! It's a semi-autobigraphical account by Cameron Crowe who really was a teenage music hack. Fans of the era will love it and will particulary enjoy the outstanding soundtrack which really does stand out. I get the feeling this was a labour of love and it shows. All of the cast are superb and gave a lot to this film. The DVD has all the usual extras. It's just a drama with a little comedy thrown in but if you are old enough to remember buying a copy of Elton John's 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' or 'Led Zep 3', you will adore this.
Rating:
Summary: WISTFUL, TRUTHFUL, DELIGHTFUL
Review: Cameron Crowe deserved his Oscar for this wonderful movie's delightful screenplay. Almost Famous is one of those movies that stays with you; it has a big, sweet heart and is chock full of enchanting characters -- from Billy Crudup's deceptive rock and roller, to Kate Hudson's beguiling Penny Lane, to Frances McDormand's wickedly funny portrayal of Mom. The movie genuinely surprises you, and carries with it the ring of truth, in its situations, its dialog and its depiction of an era in time. The soundtrack captivates the early 70s rush of rock/pop, and evokes the wistful feeling of adolescence, possibility and yearning -- the perfect complement to Crowe's autobiographical screenplay.
Rating:
Summary: It's not THAT great
Review: I am a realist, I'm not going to sit here and bash "Almost Famous", but I watched it, and saw it even twice, and it's really nothing great. Almost Famous combines all the sitcom cliches in the book, with an 'all-too-perfect' cocky main character (Patrick Figut, his name is?). He falls in love with a girl named Penny Lane, played perfectly by Kate Hudson, but you never really see the love, you just see two-dimensional characters interacting. In fact, the only time Crowe puts character development is on the buses when they are all together. The movie blindly puts in humor which for the most part isn't funny. I didn't like the overall aura of this film, and the only believable part was the mother, and the party where Billy Crudup screams "I am a golden god." The movie goes no where for two and a half hours, and then ends with one feeling empty inside. Let's face it, we all tell stories of our past experiences, and we often exagerate them. This movie is of Cameron Crowe's past experiences, and if this is an exageration, then Crowe must have had a pretty boring childhood. The whole film is an endless ego trip basically. Crowe's talents mainly lie in his screenplay, not directing. Enough about the bad parts of this movie. I found the general theme to be the 70's, rock, and family. The group and their friends are like a big happy family. The soundtrack throughout the film was both nastolgic and superb, and I really enjoyed the beginning up to the first party Kate Hudson takes Fugit to, then it all goes down. This is by no means bashing the film. It's probably one of the top ten best of 2000, which is really not saying much. It's a pretty original film, but really goes no where. Take out the couple F words and sexual references and it's a "The Wonderyears" meets rock music, disney style. The Almost Famous DVD is great, here is a warning though. I turned on the menus, and for about 45 seconds I waited for the intro to go through, before you can do anything, you have to sit through about 10 seconds of dialogue of a couple characters. Imagine waiting a minute to do what you want while the menu's are doing their introduction. The Cameron Crowe articles are pretty interesting, and the HBO making of is alright. Bottom line is, if you like the movie, get this DVD. If you have any doubt about getting it, then I urge you NOT to get it because there is another directors cut coming out in 7 months. This will have a commentary and additional footage built in. Buy this one if you can't wait, if you can wait for the new one (or are willing to buy it again), then you will be a happy camper!
Rating:
Summary: I, ME, MINE
Review: Director Cameron Crowe's ALMOST FAMOUS is a good rental if you have 2 hours to lose next week-end. Good music, excellent comedians, a few laughs. Good. Things change like old Bob says. Raoul Walsh, Frank Capra or Orson Welles who lived a captivating life never had the vanity to even think to shoot a movie about their own destinies. Nowadays, a former rock journalist can direct a movie involving his mother, his sister, his first love, his first sex night, his first paper, his intimate friends and his "be cool" attitude and show it to an admirative audience. Well, things change like old Bob says. A DVD zone Narcissus.
Rating: 
Summary: More mellodrama than 8th grade camp
Review: While the kid who plays William is good, the rest of the characters invoke apathy at best. Kate Hudson's character is especially pointless, I never cared one iota about "Penny Lane". I spent most of this overly-long movie simply waiting for it to end. The only standout performance was from Jason Lee who was the lead singer of the fictitious band Stillwater. The soundtrack is also excellent, although you've probably heard all the songs included about 100 times to often.
Rating: 
Summary: Well-done, entertaining
Review: ALMOST FAMOUS is a well-crafted comedy about writer/director Cameron Crowe's real-life adventures as a precocious teenage rock and roll journalist in the seventies. It has wit, great pacing and editing, and a big heart. The music is okay though it can never be mistaken for being the soul of the story; the soul belongs to the characters. All the characters are fully realized but Kate Hudson, whose character Penny Lane insists she is the rock group's muse not its groupie, takes her role to greater depths without eating the scenery. She deserved the Oscar nomination. Ultimately, the film is a bit gentle--it does not amend or revise our cultural insight into the era and environment it portrays; it is not a take-no-prisoners satire; it does not bleed--and that's why I'm giving it a 4 rather than a 5. It does deserve a 5 for what it is not--not another gross-out comedy, not a violent movie, not unwise, not a badly made movie of which we are seeing way too much these days.
Rating:
Summary: Remember the days of yesteryear
Review: I remember the days before Rolling Stone was mainstream. It covered the newly emerging world of rock'n'roll and the stars with an upfront and personal hand...Some of the correspondents became as followable as the stars themselves. Cameron Crowe has converted his memories of life as a 16 year old rock stringer, a career he started on a lark, (with little knowledge of the music)into a very watchable and likeable movie. This movie leaves you trying to guess who the characters are based on in the real rock world.The cast is outstanding and true to the times. Patrick Fugit is perfect as the wide eyed, idealistic young man( William Miller, the character Crowe based on himself), entering a world previously unknown to him. Francis McDormond is William's mother struggling to retain some grasp on her disintergrating family (it is easy to forget how devisive rock music was within families). Phillip Seymour Hoffman, dead on as the world weary Lester Bangs, providing Willaim Miller with entry to the rock world, while warning him of its dangers. And luminicent, Kate Hudson as Penny Lane. It is easy to see this as a star making role for her, she inhabits the role of a proud, ever hopeful "band aid" and draws your heart to her. A wonderful look into the beginnngs of rock and roll, bringing back many , many memories.
Rating:
Summary: "Almost Famous" almost gets it right
Review: I'm 42, so do the musical math yourself. The actors are wonderful in this, and Billy Crudup would have made my pin-up wall even 25 years ago (heck, he'd make it now, if I had one), and Kate Hudson is so funny/pathetically groupie-ish I'd have a hard time imagining anyone else in that role. And the music--groovy, man, it keeps you truckin', and makes you have a nice day. However--I can't believe it won for best original screenplay--unless the other films up for the award were awful. "Almost Famous" seems choppy; more like vignettes strewn together rather than a story, almost like a made for TV movie from the seventies. For instance, how did a 15 year-old kid learn to write so well? Did he ever listen in through the door to his sister's music? Why is their mother so weird? Is exposition dead, or just reserved for serious art film these days? The characters spoke in sound bites, rather than in real talk. And the seventies, after all, emphasized really "rapping" with someone, to "get in touch" with all those inner feelings running around. ------Soooo, in essence, the script lacked that overall unity a film needs to move it from the good to truly great. Too bad Cameron Crowe the kid didn't pen the script...
Rating: 
Summary: Hipper-Than-Thou!
Review: This movie gets one star from me. Heck, it earned it, didn't it? If this wasn't the number one film of the century, it was ay least the number one film of the year. Cameron Crowe's hipper-than-thou opus is one of the greatest pieces of art in the history of American cinema, and with two rising stars in Billy Crudup and Kate Hudson, this is the film that brings generations together. It is a bridge between the 70's and 90's that reminds us that above all, we are all people; living, breathing entities who NEED each other. This could be the glue of humanity, bringing down all racial, generational, and national barriers. What do I love about rock 'n roll? EVERYTHING...and more!!!
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