History Film / AlmostFamous

* [[GroupieBrigade Band-Aid Brigade]]: "IT'S BOWIE!"
* {{Homage}}: In addition to many events taken directly from real life (e.g. the scene where [[spoiler: the band's plane almost crashes]] happened while director Crowe was touring with The Who), the movies is full of homages to rock bands and albums. The scene where one of the Stillwater members is shocked by his microphone is a possible shout out to Keith Relf of the Yardbirds, who died after being electrocuted by improperly grounded music equipment. Some scenes are also framed to look like or include references to album covers, such as a shot of the crowd at the first Stillwater concert that's made to look like the cover to Neil Young's "Time Fades Away."
* IncrediblyLamePun: The band's name is Stillwater. The Rolling Stone article? "Stillwater Runs Deep".

-->"If you think Mick Jagger will still be out there trying to be a rock star at age fifty, then you are sadly, sadly mistaken."

* SoundtrackDissonance: {{Stevie Wonder}}'s dreamily romantic "My Cherie Amour" plays as William watches Penny get her stomach pumped following her overdose on pills.

* DeathbedConfession: Variant happens during the thunderstorm, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKgS24IG3HY as everyone inside the plane thinks they'll die and start this.]]

* NotSoFinalConfession: The scene where the plane apparently is about to crash.

* StarMakingRole: Kate Hudson.
* TechnologyMarchesOn: Played for a laugh. "A Mo-Jo, it's a very high-tech machine that transmits pages over the telephone! It only takes eighteen minutes a page!"

* ExecutiveMeddling: A benevolent example. Crowe wanted to include a scene where William plays [[Music/LedZeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"]] for his mom. The whole song. WordOfGod says they couldn't get the rights to "Stairway" for the scene.
** Crowe's original title was, and this is true, [[NoTitle ''Untitled'']].

* {{Defictionalization}}: One of the Director's Cut DVD extras was a "Stillwater" CD.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: William gives an epic one to the band for their treatment of Penny. All while the plane they were on was hitting turbulence.
--> '''William:''' "That groupie"? She was a Band-Aid! All she did was love your band. And you used her, all of you! You used her and threw her away! She almost died last night while you were with Bob Dylan. You guys, you're always talking about the fans, the fans, the fans; she was your biggest fan, and you threw her away! And if you can't see that, that's your biggest problem. And I love her! I love her!
* ThrowItIn: "Do you want to go to Morocco?" "Yes. [beat] Ask me again." This was not scripted, but in fact was Patrick Fugit asking Kate Hudson to do another take of the exchange.

* ChristmasInJuly: One of the things William's mother does.

''Almost Famous'' is a [[ComingOfAgeStory coming-of-age]] film directed by Cameron Crowe released in the year 2000, [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory loosely based on]] Crowe's own teenage years as a music critic.

* {{Adorkable}}: William

* AuthorAvatar: William Miller = Cameron Crowe

* DeadAir: During a radio interview scene where the overnight DJ, higher than a very high thing, falls asleep and the band being interviewed realizes the air is dead. [[PrecisionFStrike Not for long, though]].

* {{Deconstruction}}: This entire film is a deconstruction on the illusion of rock-star life. It seems glamorous at first, but then the fame starts getting to your head and you start doing stupid things that you would never do in the right mind. Fame leads to an idea of invulnerability and often creates tension between band members (often brought on by record execs to force them to create a big radio hit against the will of the band member's better judgement or creative being all for the sake of profit). It just goes to show that the rock-star life is nothing more than a gilded cage.

* EdgyBackwardsChairSitting: Russell Hammond does this when he finally sits down to give Wiliam an interview.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: The in-universe example of Russell Hammond, who upstages the band leader without even trying.

-->'''William:''' Don't you have any regular friends?
-->'''Penny:''' Famous people are just more interesting.

* [[GroupieBrigade Band-Aid Brigade]] "IT'S BOWIE!"

* ItWillNeverCatchOn:

* LostHimInACardGame: One of the bands bets their groupies.
** * sigh* It's [[InsistentTerminology Band-aid]]
* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Penny Lane is a deconstruction of this -- she uses her quirky, upbeat attitude to hide her inner loneliness and hurt, something that becomes painfully apparent at the end of the movie.

* NatureAbhorsAVirgin / ThreeWaySex: "Let's deflower the kid."

* SexAsRiteOfPassage: Not that William actively attempts to lose his virginity - that's taken care of for him.

-->Russell: Hey, why didn't you come back to the party last night? BobDylan showed up. He was sitting at our table for what had to be an hour or something, right, Dick?
-->Dick: Yeah.
-->Russell: Just rapping. Bob Dylan at our fucking table.
** "Stillwater" is possibly a play on CreedenceClearwaterRevival, and maybe Crosby Stills & Nash.

** And in the same hotel, he is told to "Blow me!" by comedian Leonard Barr (the real Leonard Barr played Shady Tree in Diamonds are Forever)

* WatchOutForThatTree: Sapphire, while running alongside Stillwater's tour bus to give William a message, runs straight into a wall.

** ''"Lady Goodman?!?!?"''

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Penny]]

** Many real rock-and-roll personalities are actual characters in the movie, or implied to be just off-screen. Lester Bangs drops these left and right. Penny Lane is a nod Music/TheBeatles and is also is loosely based on a real person. At one point William is trying to interview Music/BlackSabbath. On a couple of different occasions, he encounters groupies chasing after DavidBowie, [[Music/LedZeppelin Robert Plant, or Jimmy Page]]. And Penny is sold to Humble Pie.

** Many real rock-and-roll personalities are actual characters in the movie, or implied to be just off-screen. Lester Bangs drops these left and right. Penny Lane is a nod Music/TheBeatles and is also is loosely based on a real person. At one point William is trying to interview Music/BlackSabbath. On a couple of different occasions, he encounters groupies chasing after DavidBowie, [[Music/LedZeppelin Robert Plant, or Jimmy Page]].

* ExecutiveMeddling: A benevolent example. Crowe wanted to include a scene where William plays [[Music/LedZeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"]] for his mom. The whole song.

** Not to mention Will very briefly catching sight of [[JohnLennon a man]] [[YokoOno and a woman]], singing and playing the guitar together in a hotel room.
** WordOfGod on the dvd commentary identifies those two as Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris.

* DawsonCasting: Averted. Patrick Fugit was seventeen during filming, playing a sixteen year old. It actually led to problems as his voice broke and he grew three inches, becoming somewhat noticeably taller than Billy Crudup.