Cameron Crowe wrote and directed this account of his time as a young journalist on tour with a rock band. It’s a sentimental and sanitised portrait of the music industry, but that makes for a hugely entertaining film. I love it.
Patrick Fugit is perfect as the wide-eyed, 15-year-old writer William, mentored by Creem journalist Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and desperate to follow his dreams as he takes off with the up-and-coming (fictional) rockers Stillwater. Kate Hudson is expressive and sympathetic as Penny Lane, a 16-year-old groupie who also follows the band and learns too late that she’s being used by them. Frances McDormand is amusing and compelling as the overbearing mother who’s convinced her son will be lost to a world of drugs and decadence.
The soundtrack features Led Zeppelin, The Seeds, Simon & Garfunkel, Yes and Neil Young among others. I’m not a fan of Elton John, but the scene in which everyone sings along to his “Tiny Dancer” is warm and touching. The music by Stillwater sounds authentically 1973, if a little generic.
“I have to go home,” says William, at one point.
“You are home,” replies Penny Lane.
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