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Almost Famous (2000) ft. Jesse Sertle

  • Writer: Thomas Duncan
    Thomas Duncan
  • Sep 10, 2025
  • 6 min read

Guest:


Cast:

  • Cameron Crowe, Writer/Director

  • John Toll, Cinematography

  • Nancy Wilson, Music

  • Billy Crudup as Russell Hammond

  • Frances McDormand as Elaine Miller

  • Kate Hudson as Penny Lane (Lady Goodman)

  • Jason Lee as Jeff Bebe

  • Patrick Fugit as William Miller

    • Michael Angarano as young William

  • Anna Paquin as Polexia Aphrodisia

  • Fairuza Balk as Sapphire

  • Noah Taylor as Dick Roswell

  • Philip Seymour Hoffman as Lester Bangs

  • Zooey Deschanel as Anita Miller

  • Jimmy Fallon as Dennis Hope

  • Bijou Phillips as Estrella Starr

  • Terry Chen as Ben Fong-Torres

  • Jay Baruchel as Vic Munoz

  • Rainn Wilson as David Felton


Background:

  • Almost Famous was released on September 22, 2000.

  • On a budget of $60 million, the film struggled to post $47.4 million during its theatrical run finishing the year at #76 worldwide.

  • Nevertheless, it received high critical praise at the time and was nominated for 4 Oscars: Best Supporting Actress (Hudson, McDormand) and Film Editing; winning for Best Original Screenplay (Crowe).

  • The Almost Famous soundtrack album was awarded the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.

  • In 2021, Rolling Stone published the article “Stillwater Runs Deep!” by "William Miller," backdated to August 30, 1973.

  • The film has recently been adapted into a Broadway musical by Cameron Crowe that debuted in 2022.

  • Almost Famous currently holds a 91% among critics on RT, a 90 score on Metacritic, and a 4.1/5 on Letterboxd.


Plot Summary: Almost Famous is a coming-of-age story about music, identity, and growing up in the 1970s. The film follows William Miller, a 15-year-old aspiring music journalist, who gets the chance of a lifetime when Rolling Stone magazine hires him to cover an up-and-coming rock band called Stillwater.


William joins the band on tour, where he experiences the excitement and chaos of life on the road. Along the way, he befriends Penny Lane, a free-spirited groupie who hides her own heartbreak behind her love for the music. As William tries to balance his journalistic duties with his feelings of friendship and loyalty, he struggles with the blurred lines between truth and storytelling.


At its core, Almost Famous is about the power of music to shape lives, the messy process of growing up, and learning who you are when surrounded by fame, love, and disappointment.


Did You Know:

  • To look like a real rock band, the four actors in Stillwater rehearsed for four hours a night, five nights a week, for six weeks.

  • The film is director Cameron Crowe's semi-autobiographical account of life as a young Rolling Stone reporter. The actual group Crowe first toured with was The Allman Brothers Band. Gregg Allman distrusted him, and kept asking if he was a narc. Crowe was in a near-fatal plane crash while traveling with The Who. The character of Russell Hammond is partially based on Glenn Frey of Eagles.

  • Most films have music budgets of less than $1.5 million. This film featured over 50 songs, with a music budget of $3.5 million.

  • Stillwater's songs were written by Peter Frampton (who also had a small part in the film), Cameron Crowe, and his ex-wife Nancy Wilson of the rock band Heart. The music acknowledgments credit Russell Hammond and Stillwater as if they were real authors and performers.

  • According to Cameron Crowe, he sent the script around town to see if he could get anyone to respond to it. Steven Spielberg, founder of Dreamworks, read Crowe's 172-page script over the weekend and called Crowe on Monday saying, "Direct every word". Crowe said he filmed almost all of the script.

  • At the party, Russell Hammond cries out, "I am a golden god!" when he is on acid. That is a reference to Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin, who is purported to have said the same thing (sober) while looking over Sunset Strip from a hotel balcony.

  • When Cameron Crowe's mother appeared on the set for a cameo, Crowe made every effort to keep her away from Frances McDormand, who was playing a character based on her, so McDormand's interpretation of the part wouldn't be swayed. When he left the set for a few minutes on the first day of shooting, he returned to find McDormand and his mother having lunch together.


Best Performance: Cameron Crowe (Writer/Director)/Frances McDormand (Mom)

Best Secondary Performance: Patrick Fugit (William)/Kate Hudson (Penny)

Most Charismatic Award: Kate Hudson (Penny)/Jason Lee (Jeff)

Best Scene:

  • Backstage Door

  • Band T-Shirt

  • Party in Topeka

  • Saving Penny

  • Plane Ride over Tupelo

  • William and Russell Makeup

Favorite Scene: Plane Ride over Tupelo/Party in Topeka

Most Indelible Moment: Plane Ride over Tupelo/Lock the Gates


In Memorium:

  • Frank Price, 95, American television producer (The Virginian) and studio executive (Columbia Pictures, Universal Television).

  • Floyd Levine, 93, American actor (Bloodbrothers, Melrose Place, Coach Carter, Airplane II: The Sequel).

  • Graham Greene, 73, Canadian actor and musician (Dances with Wolves, Maverick, The Green Mile, Die Hard with a Vengeance) Oscar nominee 1990.


Best Lines/Funniest Lines:

Dennis Hope: If you think Mick Jagger will still be out there trying to be a rock star at age fifty, then you are sadly, sadly mistaken.


Russell Hammond: I am a Golden God!


Penny Lane: I always tell the girls, never take it seriously, if ya never take it seriosuly, ya never get hurt, ya never get hurt, ya always have fun, and if you ever get lonely, just go to the record store and visit your friends.


Lester Bangs: The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool.


Dennis Hope: I didn't invent the rainy day, man. I just own the best umbrella.


Penny Lane: How old are you?

William Miller: Eighteen.

Penny Lane: Me too! How old are we really?

William Miller: Seventeen.

Penny Lane: Me too!

William Miller: Actually, I'm sixteen.

Penny Lane: Me too. Isn't it funny? The truth just sounds different.

William Miller: I'm fifteen.


Elaine Miller: Well there it is, your sister used the "F" word.

Young William: I think she said "feck."

Elaine Miller: What's the difference?

Young William: The letter "u."


Sapphire: They don't even know what it is to be a fan. Y'know? To truly love some silly little piece of music, or some band, so much that it hurts.


William Miller: "That groupie"? She was a Band-Aid! All she did was love your band. And you used her, all of you! You used her and threw her away! She almost died last night while you were with Bob Dylan. You guys, you're always talking about the fans, the fans, the fans; she was your biggest fan, and you threw her away! And if you can't see that, that's your biggest problem.


Elaine Miller: This is not some apron-wearing mother you're speaking with - I know all about your valhalla of decadence and I shouldn't have let him go. He's not ready for your world of compromised values and diminished brain cells that you throw away like confetti. Am I speaking to you clearly?


Lester Bangs: Here's a theory for you to disregard - completely. Music, you know, true music - not just rock 'n' roll - it chooses you. You know, it lives in your car, or alone, listening to your headphones, with vast scenic bridges and angelic choirs in your brain. You know, it's a place apart from the vast, benign lap of America.


Russell Hammond: And you can tell Rolling Stone magazine that my last words were... I'm on drugs! [crowd cheers]

William Miller: Russell! I think we should work on those last words!

Russell Hammond: I got it, I got it. Last words - I dig music. [a few claps] [beat] I'm on drugs!


William Miller: I have to go home.

Penny Lane: You are home.


William Miller: So Russell... what do you love about music?

Russell Hammond: To begin with, everything.


The Stanley Rubric:

Legacy: 5.25

Impact/Significance: 6.5

Novelty: 8.25

Classic-ness: 4.75

Rewatchability: 7

Audience Score: 8.9 (86% Google, 92% RT)

Total: 40.65


Remaining Questions:

  • How long after the conclusion does Stillwater last?

  • Does Elaine Miller (the mother) ever loosen up?

  • Does William get a full-time job with Rolling Stone?

  • Does Penny's trip to Morocco end well?

  • Does Delores finally break down?

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