2000, R, 124 minutes

I've always felt that the key to good writing (or story telling in general) is to capture the absolute truth of something. Rock 'n roll and journalism are two topics that often get washed over with inaccuracies and falsehoods, and the reason Almost Famous works as a film is because Cameron Crowe addresses these topics with a truthful eye. However, while the characters are well crafted and the story is surprisingly realistic, in the end this film wasn't nearly as effective on an emotional level as it could've been.

Don't be surprised if a lot of critics and journalists drool over Almost Famous - it's perfect for them because they can relate to it on a very deep and personal level. The reason: William (Patrick Fugit) is a 15-year-old kid who takes his first step into the world of rock journalism. Always having been an outsider, mostly because of his dominant mother (Frances McDormand), William finally gets his chance to "be cool" when Rolling Stone hirers him to follow a band called Stillwater and write an article for the magazine. In sets the conflict of interest: the band members are going to become friends with him as they travel together, but at the same time he's supposed to write an objective and honest piece about them. As William travels across the country we see him deal with this conflict, all the while becoming friends with a Band-Aid (more of a Muse than a groupie) named Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), and also dealing with the band members who are actually a bunch of assholes... sort of.

Even though Almost Famous has all of the necessary elements for a great movie -- including good acting, fresh dialogue, plenty of humor, interesting characters and an original story -- in the end it is only a good movie, not a great one. Despite the fact that writer and director Cameron Crowe has put together a number of great scenes, they don't seem to connect to one another very well and the story feels a bit choppy and disjointed at times. This is likely because Crowe was under pressure to cut down on the film's runtime, which is sad because my gut tells me the longer version was significantly better.

As much as I wanted to become emotionally attached to the characters on more than a superficial level, in all honesty, I wasn't able to. The story almost had me in a few places, but it never quite took hold of me the way I had hoped for. One moment in particular involves Kate Hudson all by herself after a concert, dancing around to music that only exists in her mind. It's a truly magical scene that starts to enchant you and pull you in, and then wham! It just suddenly ends when it should've gone on for a full minute longer. Just to give you an idea of how violating it was to have it end like that, the equivalent would be to cut the "plastic bag scene" in American Beauty in half. To me, the scene summarizes this "version" of the film, as everything about it is good but could've been so much more.

I realize my comments thus far have been primarily negative, so I should add that Almost Famous has plenty of good to offer. As the band goes on tour everything feels honest and real, and the acting is top-notch. Patrick Fugit gives a solid performance as an innocent kid in a strange and bizarre land (the land of rock), and Kate Hudson is also good as a true music lover. The best performances, however, come from two of the slightly older actors: Billy Crudup and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Crudup is perfect as Stillwater's lead guitarist, providing an accurate portrayal of a man full of conflict between art and industry. Better yet, is Philip Seymour Hoffman as the legendary Lester Bangs, a real person who ran Creem magazine. Hoffman oozes with charisma and every second we see him up on screen he simply demands our attention, which of course, we are more than willing to give him.

There's something about music that can capture your heart and completely consume you, and it's this feeling that Almost Famous builds off of. Big rock 'n roll fans will probably love this film, as will anyone close to the world of music or journalism, but chances are the average moviegoer won't be swept away by it.