While I can understand people being bored with "Almost Famous" I was not. However, I attribute that to the fact that I was a 16/17/18 year old boy during the exact time period that this movie dipicts. I was facinated with how well it recreated a feeling of a particular time and a particular place. Unless you happened to have shared similar circumstances, this movie may understandably not have resonated with you as it did with me. Hence, I am not surprised you might find it boring.
Saying it is a paean to rock groupies is, of course, a gross oversimplification. This film is first and foremost a coming of age story. Such stories have been done to death, however, I thought this one was done quite well. But again that may because the look and feel of the film was so close to my own coming of age.
"Almost Famous" is also a valentine to the rock scene of the early seventies. A time when "Rolling Stone" magazine was something new and different. There is a lot of love in this picture and it vibrated with a sweetness that I found appealing. Sweet I don't normally do.
I guess finally, I liked this movie because I am rapidly approaching 50 and it is increasingly hard for me to understand why kids who are in their early teens do what they do. This film in some ways helps me to remember and, therefore, to understand. While I may still not like Britney Spears and that particular ilk of today's scene, or whatever is today's scene as I am increasingly out of that scene, I can at least understand it on some level.
At least we can agree on Francis McDormand's performance. This is also the only performance of Kate Hudson's, to date, that is not forgettable.
As for my seeming indignation about CalGals rather brusque dismissal of this film, I guess the pot shouldn't be sneering at the kettle....
Therefore, I must make amends....
