Search - Almost Famous on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Adult Situations, Adult Language, Drug Content, Watch With Your Teen Movie Release: 2000 DVD Release: 03/13/2001 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 3 mins Studio: DreamWorks Total Copies: 5 Genres: Comedy Drama, Road Movie, Musical Drama, Coming-of-Age See Also: Almost Famous Untitled: The Bootleg Cut [Director's Edition with CD], Almost Famous

Writer and director Cameron Crowe's experiences as a teenage rock journalist -- he was a regular contributor to Rolling Stone while still in high school -- inspired this coming-of-age story about a 15-year-old boy hitting the road with an up-and-coming rock band in the early 1970s. Elaine Miller (Frances McDormand) is a bright, loving, but strict single parent whose distrust of rock music and fears about drug use have helped to drive a wedge between herself and her two children, Anita (Zooey Deschanel) and William (Patrick Fugit). Anita rebels by dropping out of school and becoming a stewardess, but William makes something of his love of rock & roll by writing album reviews for a local underground newspaper. William's work attracts the attention of Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman), editor of renegade rock magazine Creem, who takes William under his wing and gives him his first professional writing assignment -- covering a Black Sabbath concert. While William is unable to score an interview with the headliners, the opening act, Stillwater, are more than happy to chat with a reporter, even if he's still too young to drive, and William's piece on the group in Creem gains him a new admirer in Ben Fong-Torres (Terry Chen), an editor at Rolling Stone. Torres offers William an assignment for a 3,000-word cover story on Stillwater, and over the objections of his mother (whose parting words are "Don't use drugs!"), and after some stern advice from Bangs (who says under no circumstances should he become friends with a band he's covering), Williams joins Stillwater on tour, where he becomes friendly with guitarist Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup) and singer Jeff Bebe (Jason Lee). William also becomes enamored of Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), a groupie traveling with the band who is no older than William, but is deeply involved with Russell. Lester Bangs and Ben Fong-Torres, incidentally, were real-life rock writers Crowe worked with closely during his days as a journalist. Almost Famous' original score was composed by Nancy Wilson of Heart (who is also Crowe's wife).
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Patrick Fugit - William Miller
Billy Crudup - Russell Hammond
Frances McDormand - Elaine Miller
Kate Hudson - Penny Lane
Jason Lee - Jeff Bebe
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Lester Bangs
Zooey Deschanel - Anita Miller

Cameron Crowe's coming-of-age drama comedy Almost Famous comes to DVD courtesy of Dreamworks. The film boasts an impressive cast, including Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand, Kate Hudson, and Patrick Fugit. Impressive as well is the film's transfer to disc. It is presented in a clean, crisp, anamorphic widescreen format with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio that is perfect for the movie's many multiple action shots, like Crudup's band performing on-stage. What's very impressive, however, is the movie's soundtrack, which comes in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. This makes the film's classic rock soundtrack explode from the screen with concert-like force -- a critical feature in a movie such as this in which music is so important, and one which will have the home viewer searching for their ticket stub when they go to the bathroom. Special features on the DVD include the music video "Fever Dog," a behind-the-scenes featurette, cast and crew bios and production notes, and Crowe's articles for Rolling Stone from which he drew material and inspiration for the film. ~ Russell Roberts, All Movie Guide