Almost Famous

Most people that listen to music, or see a band perform live, understand at least in a very small how difficult it can be to for a group or musician to even become that successful. The success of music is affected by many aspects that doesn't even involve the music itself. One being reviews written by music critics. If some one hasn't heard an album that is supposed to be a very good one, more than likely they will base their first opinion on what he or she reads about it. So a good or bad review can really make or break a career, even for the writer. The movie, Almost Famous best exemplifies this.

The movie begins in a small families home in San Diego, California. The mother and the daughter of the family are fighting because the daughter feels contained in the house, so much to the point where the mother wont even let her daughter listen to a vinyl record of Simon and Garfunkle. The daughter decides to become an airline worker so she can chase her dreams of traveling the world. However, she leaves William, her little brother, her entire collection of vinyl records as a gift. This inspires William to become a writer for a rock magazine. When William turns fifteen, he meets famous music critic Lester Bangs. Bangs tells William, to write a review on the Black Sabbath concert going on at the San Diego sports arena. After William struggles to get into, he meets a group of self acclaimed band-aides. Penny Lane, played by Kate Hudson, uses her underground fame to sneak William into the concert. It was here he met the band, Stillwater, who he chooses to write about instead of Black Sabbath. Eventually he gets dragged along onto the tour with Penny Lane and the band Stillwater, leaving his school work behind and his mother extremely worried.

Almost famous is a classic rock and roll story. It can be appreciated by those who are struggling musicians, those who struggle with love, or even simply some one with a dream. The movie is throughly entertaining all the way through. For the younger crowd, it is an interesting trip into the past of rock and roll, and for the older crowd, it is a walk down memory lane.