2000, 122 minutes
Directed by Cameron Crowe
SHOWCHELLA
Set in 1973, Almost Famous tells the funny and often poignant coming of age of 15-year-old William, an unabashed music fan who is inspired by the seminal bands of the time. When his love of music lands him an assignment from Rolling Stone magazine to interview the up-and-coming band Stillwater -- fronted by lead guitar Russell Hammond and lead singer Jeff Bebe, William embarks on an eye-opening journey with the band's tour, despite the objections of his protective mother.
Director/Writer Cameron Crowe won an Academy Award for this deeply personal and universally entertaining coming-of-age story, based loosely on his own exploits as a teenage writer for Rolling Stone. Even with fantastic music and a stellar cast including Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand, Kate Hudson, Patrick Fugit, Jason Lee, Anna Paquin, Fairuza Balk and Philip Seymour Hoffman, the film didn't do well when it opened in theaters. But it was a critical success, and after Crowe's award for his script and a Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Movie, the fan base for the film has kept it in the limelight as a cult classic about the music industry.