Rock and Roll Part 2: Almost Famous

My last entry was about a movie which was a blistering satirical love note to rock music. This one is a sentimental love note to rock music. When I first saw this movie in Boston some 12 years ago, I did not realize how much I would grow to love it. In Spinal Tap, we see truth because the characters in it are so much like other people we have followed. In Almost Famous, we see truth because the characters in the movie (even though they live completely different lifestyles from most of us) are so much like ourselves.

The film follows the adventures of William Miller, a 15 year old high school student who somehow manages to become a rock critic for Rolling Stone magazine. As he embarks on his first tour with a rock band, we witness a coming of age that seems almost classical in its tone. By classical, I mean that even though an innocence is being lost, the film's tone is quite innocent and sweet, and it makes the road seem like an appealing place. The quintessential line of the movie takes place about midway through. William is getting pressure from his mother to get back home to finish high school. He tells his new friend Penny Lane (a band aid, as those who refused to be called groupies labeled themselves), "I have to get home!" She magically waves her hands in front of him and declares, "You are home!" William has to deal with what he wants to do with his life, and his love of music ends up being the road he follows.

Cameron Crowe directed this movie and based it on his own life. I am a big fan of his films (even the ones that I'm not as crazy about are still interesting). This movie is an evocative work. It uses his own life and dozens of wonderful rock songs to build a world. Even though the world does have its pitfalls, it still seems highly idealized, and that is appropriate. It shows the drugs and promiscuity, but somehow it still seems to be sanitized. That is appropriate because the movie is highly nostalgic, and it would be hard to make a nostalgic movie and have the setting be horribly sad. The down side of drugs and promiscuity is seen, but there is no death or STDs, realities that we all know come with the rock world.

There is one common thread to Crowe's films that I must bring up in closing. Crowe sees physical intimacy in a very serious light. Though the characters engage in promiscuous behavior, there is a subtext that there is more to it than that. Penny Lane feels genuinely hurt by Russell's lack of regard for her, even though she knows that he has a girlfriend and that he's on the road constantly. This same theme also pops up in "Vanilla Sky" and in "Say Anything". People in a world as "free" from the boundaries of traditional sexual roles as rock stars do feel the gravity of these actions, and Cameron Crowe sees that. I am always moved by his acknowledgement of that.

So the movie is able to at once be evocative, sentimental, funny, and deep. The glowing shot of the bus at the end of the movie emits a warmth that matches the warmth of this film. I love it.