Almost Famous

Cameron Crowe built Russell Hammond around Brad Pitt first. They developed the part for roughly four months, Pitt read scenes with Natalie Portman, and then he walked away. The pool line “I am a golden god” and the repeated remarks about how good Russell looks were written for Pitt and stayed once Billy Crudup took over. Led Zeppelin opened their catalogue to a film here for the first time, but would not clear “Stairway to Heaven” for the scene Crowe wanted; that scene sits on the special edition disc with no song under it. Mike McCready played the lead guitar on the Stillwater tracks. It lost money. Against a 60 million dollar budget it took around 47 million worldwide. At the 73rd Academy Awards it drew four nominations: two at once in Actress in a Supporting Role, for Kate Hudson and Frances McDormand, one in Film Editing, and one in the category then called Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen), which Crowe won. The tour is not the subject. The writer failing to keep his distance is. A good fit if you want the interview that never gets done to matter more than the concerts. Not for anyone waiting for the reporter to turn on the band; Crowe keeps them likeable and never goes near it.