Almost Famous

I doubt William Miller (Patrick Fugit) had any idea where his love for music would take him when he, under the instruction of his older sister, listens to the rock album Tommy with a candle burning to see his future.
Almost Famous is the story of William Miller, a teen who is among the social rejects at his high school, and his travels with the fictional rock band Stillwater. It begins, however, several years early when Anita (Zooey Deschanel) leaves their home amidst a troubled relationship with William’s mother, Elaine (Frances McDormand).
Before she leaves, she passes on her collection of rock music that she had hid from her mother with instructions that he listen and come to appreciate what he’s missing.
Fast-forward several years, and William is now in high school, writing for his local underground paper and sending pieces on to renowned rock critic Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who asks William to meet him. From then on, Lester assumes the role of his mentor while William begins to write, first for him, and then for Rolling Stone.
While out on a writing assignment for Bangs, William meets Miss Penny Lane (Kate Hudson) a band-aide who tries to get him a backstage pass to talk to Black Sabbath. However, while waiting for Penny Lane to return, the opening act Stillwater arrives and brings William in with them.
William is contacted by Ben Fong-Torres of Rolling Stone who assigns him a story on Stillwater.
From there, William embarks on a journey with them as they travel around the country playing shows. During this time, he falls for Penny Lane but only finds out that she is involved with Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup), the lead guitar player for Stillwater.
But it isn’t all fun for the famous: problems occur, however, when the band begins to have internal arguments and William finds out that Russell is trying to sell Penny Lane to another band because his wife is meeting the band in New York.
Things continue to go downhill when Rolling Stone rejects William’s story because the band denies its validity.
The performances of all the actors in this film are phenomenal: Frances McDormand’s role as Williams mother is spectacular. During one particular scene, she has a lovely and inspirational phone conversation with Billy Crudup’s character that is absolutely hilarious.
Full of humor, drama, and spectacular acting, Almost Famous is one of my all time favorite movies.