| Almost focused: 'Love letter' to rock wanders in subplots 04/13/2001 By AL BRUMLEY / The Dallas Morning News You know you've accomplished something when you make Roger Ebert want to hug himself.
Whether that "something" is good or not depends on how the image of Mr. Ebert's hugging himself strikes you.
Such is the case with the film Almost Famous, Cameron Crowe's self-described "love letter to music," based on his career as a 15-year-old writing prodigy cranking out 3,000-word stories for Rolling Stone.
And yes, Mr. Ebert found the film so moving that, as he wrote in his review, "I was almost hugging myself while I watched it."
The film was released recently on DVD with a few special features, most notably a collection of the young Mr. Crowe's writing. (Late word came regarding a director's cut DVD with 30 additional minutes, but it wasn't made available for review.)
The problem with Almost Famous, though, is that Mr. Crowe addressed his love letter to too many people.
The tale of a 15-year-old kid tagging along with a rock group to write his first story for Rolling Stone sounds like plenty of plot for a movie right there.
And sure, secondary plots are necessary and welcome, but Mr. Crowe lets Almost Famous get bogged down in a romance between groupie – oops, sorry, Band Aid – Penny Lane and guitarist Russell Hammond.
Well, it's only a one-sided romance, and it's never very believable at that.
And then there's the band – in this case the fictional Stillwater. Mr. Crowe shows us plenty of group infighting, but we never get close enough to any of them to really care. Watching Spinal Tap lose their manager in Rob Reiner's classic rock 'n' roll documentary spoof carries more dramatic weight than watching Stillwater's manager get usurped.
Again, too much material and not enough focus.
And then there's Lester Bangs – the late, legendary rock critic and mentor to the young Mr. Crowe – played in Almost Famous by Philip Seymour Hoffman. In a 25-minute documentary on the making of the film included on the DVD, Mr. Crowe says that Mr. Hoffman truly captures the writer's spirit.
This will be a disappointing revelation to anyone who's enjoyed Mr. Bangs' writing. Could the man have really been that annoying?
Still, all this negativity aside, Almost Famous does have its moments. Patrick Fugit shines as the teenage Mr. Crowe – a big bundle of innocence trying desperately to hang tough but, even when enraged, still marred by an angelic countenance.
And there's always the sense that the glory days are over – that Mr. Bangs' prediction about the death of rock 'n' roll is coming true.
"Can you believe these new girls?" Band Aid Sapphire says at the end of the tour, warily eyeing a group of, well, groupies. "...I mean, they don't even know what it is to be a fan. You know, to truly love some silly little piece of music or some band so much that it hurts."
Mr. Crowe knows that feeling well. Unfortunately, this time he had too much love to give.
ALMOST FAMOUS
C+
Starring Billy Crudup, Patrick Fugit, Kate Hudson, Jason Lee, Frances McDormand, Zooey Deschanel, Fairuza Balk and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Directed by Cameron Crowe. Rated R (language, drug use, brief nudity, adult situations). $26.99. 123 min.
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