ALMOST FAMOUS

This film is the story of a sweet and very smart kid who loves rock music,
and whose dream is to be a rock music writer. Most of the film takes place in
1973, when William Miller is 15, and when he sets out to write an article about
an increasingly popular rock group called Stillwater. They are typical of the
hard rock groups of that period, in that they are loud and seductive, but not
nearly as good as the classic 1960s groups that came before them (such as
the Beatles and the Rolling Stones). Regardless, Stillwater is a fictional group,
although they are very similar to such real 1970s bands as Bad Company or
Grand Funk Railroad. And in fact, William himself is really Cameron Crowe in
real life, the writer and director of this film, who began writing for Rolling Stone
magazine in the early 1970s when he was just 15.

While trying to get an interview with members of Stillwater, William meets
several young female fans who travel around the country with the band. Most people
would call them "groupies" because they sleep with the band members, but they
like to think of themselves as "Band-Aids." One of these Band-Aids is Penny Lane
(a nickname taken from the Beatle song), who is in love with Russell, Stillwater’s
lead guitarist. As William joins all of them on the road, he soon learns that rock
stars are not always as "cool" as they seem to be, and that if girls like Penny
are not careful, they can be easily hurt by the stars that they love.

This is an excellent look at the "rock’n’roll scene" of the early 1970s, and as such,
captures a time when the ideals and dreams of the 1960s had passed, and music was in
the process of becoming a very big business.

                     Nikki<3