Almost Famous

Released: 2000
Comedy, Drama
Director: Cameron Crowe
Starring: Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand, Kate Hudson
Running Time: 122 minutes
Rated: R
 
The breakdown:  A smart teenage boy gets his break into journalism by traveling with a rock band in the 1970's.

This movie's been around for a while and I had heard some things about it, but didn't really want to see it.  I just watched it out of boredom.
It's not great, but it's not terrible either.  Kinda' in the middle for me.
Set in the early 1970's this boy, who's pretty smart and skipped a few grades in school, learns to love music.  His sister gives him all her albums when she flees the house from her suffocating and controlling mother.  He also likes writing and in a few years time, he puts the two together.  He gets his first assignment for a local magazine and his talent develops from there.  Soon, Rolling Stone wants him to do a cover story for Stillwater, although, they don't know he's only 15 when they hire him over the phone.
He travels with the band and sees a lot of things a 15 year should not, but he's smart and avoids all the really bad stuff.  The band sees him as a friend sometimes, but knows he's a journalist and will write whatever he sees, so they keep some distance from him for a while.  When groupies get thrown in, the boy ends up falling for one in particular, but she's a bit older than him and just can't see him that way.
Basically this is a coming of age story for the boy, and for the band it's a quick look at their ups and downs together.

3 and a 1/2 out of 5 for being an ok, but most likely, forgettable movie.