Almost Famous

Everyone was completely immersed into their characters, and then there is Jimmy Fallon…who was Jimmy Fallon in a wig. (To be fair he played better then expected, but still the guy is clearly not an actor) - I was very nervous to see this, since it’s on the mount rushmore of my favorite genre(hangout movies/ coming of age) and its supposedly a lot like my favorite movies(Emprie records, dazed and confused, the breakfast club, etc..) And I think I left with a completely different experience then the one I thought id have, I thought that if my fears were true, this was gonna be some feel good movie that i would probably like less then others since I hate hippies, and it would glorify them. or that if it is what people say it is, its gonna be my new favorite movie. This movie is way more similar to Relaity Bites(1994) and or Suburbia(1996) then it is to Emprie Records, or Dazed And Confused. It’s about a guy disillusioned with the time he’s in. But this movie is different. good hangout movies, by my books at least…have one key factor. That factor being that every character is a part of one personality, now I know that sounds weird, but il try to explain… what I mean is hangout movies usually get strong feelings from people, either really good, or really bad, go look what you friends rated Dazed And Confused, I bet it’s full of 5 stars and 1 star, no in betweens, the reason for that being, Dazed And Confused( don’t worry if you didn’t see the movie I won’t spoil it) is not about a group of friends with different personalities, it’s about the personality of the writer, every character is a personality trait, or an emotion, or an opinion, and together they are not a group, but one personality. This why this sort of movies feel unrealistic if you like them, because no group is that perfect and coherent, only people, I’m not saying people are perfect, I’m saying people balance off their differences personally traits perfectly into one coherent being. This also explains why people feels so strongly towards this movies, because you either like someone or you don’t, and since the group is actually a personality…you either like the group or you don’t.  That’s my theory anyway… This movie can’t do that, since it has a clear main character, and also is based on a somewhat true story, obviously it’s being told by how the people were perceived by whoever this story was based on, but they still don’t create one big personality, together, they are, actually… a GROUP. It feels different. This not about how one person felt about his time living in a certain time period but how people in general felt, and I think from this story they felt every single emotion there is, this movie isn’t sad, and it’s neither as fun and as happy as the TikTok edits might make it seem. The movie just bounces off every emotion there is, and that’s its strength, and that’s why it feels so real, and despite not fitting into my theory about what makes a great hangout movie, it works for me. It’s not a personality, but it does feel like a person if that makes sense…  every character doesn’t represent a different emotion or whatever, but the movie itself manages to represent every emotion there is and pull it off…like a person with a personality would feel about life for example…. After it was done I starred into the blu ray cover for a good 15 seconds with a smile. Anyway I would probably like it way better on rewatch and it should speaks volume that even though I gave I it 5 stars I’m still somewhat disappointed, since I thought this might end up be my favorite movie… Someday maybe…