ALMOST FAMOUS

Grade: B-

Cameron Crowe’s followup to his smash “Jerry Maguire” is almost a really good movie, but it’s hobbled by several major flaws. Obviously a labor of love, the semi-autobiographical script merges an end-of-the-era tale about rock and roll with a coming-of-age story about an adolescent boy who learns about life and love while accompanying a mid-level band on tour. The central figure, based on Crowe himself, is William Miller (Patrick Fugit), a precocious kid who, after writing a few pieces for a small rock magazine, inveigles an assignment to cover a medium-grade group called Stillwater for Rolling Stone. Before long he’s become a member of their pack, sharing secrets with lead guitarist Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup) and falling for groupie Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), who’s also involved with the married musician, while trying to collect material for his article. Meanwhile his uptight mom Elaine (Frances McDormand), a psychology prof whose firm reins have already led to the angry departure of her daughter Anita (Zooey Deschanel), tries to keep tabs on her son’s well-being via long-distance, without much success.

“Almost Famous” does some things exceptionally well. It captures the mood of the music scene in the early ’70s very nicely, nailing most of the visual details of the period and cunningly depicting a turning-point at which the rock movement was becoming so grossly commercialized that it could no longer represent rebellion and change. Crowe has also gotten superior performances from Crudup and Hudson. The former, somewhat resembling a young Matt Dillon, follows his fine turn in “Jesus’ Son” with a well-shaded portrait of a rather grubby guy who’s got his share of flaws but retains a sensitive side. Hudson glows as Russell’s preferred squeeze, over whom poor William also flips; not only does she look absolutely radiant, but she unearths layers of unexpected emotion in the character. Jason Lee also makes a good impression as Jeff Bebe, the lead singer of Stillwater who’s more than a bit envious of Russell’s fame, as does Noah Taylor as the band’s manager. And, perhaps best of all, Philip Seymour Hoffman does a cameo as William’s reluctant mentor in the world of rock journalism that’s somehow both wild and laid-back; he’s amazingly good.

But all this really fine stuff is happening on the fringes, as it were, because the movie’s center is more than a little bland. Fugit was obviously chosen to play William, the linchpin of the plot, mostly for his appearance, and one can easily see why–his round face, with its look of wide-eyed innocence, fits a kid out of his element perfectly, and he’s got a sweet smile too. But that’s about all he brings to the party; his reaction to the goings-on surrounding him often seems blank, and when he does rouse himself for an outburst, it comes across as tinny. William is supposed to be a sort of passive receptacle, to be sure, but in this case the figure almost disappears; though he’s not shot perpetually in shadow, as Fugit plays him the kid becomes almost as anonymous as the faceless reporter William Alland portrayed in “Citizen Kane.” As William’s high-strung mother, on the other hand, McDormand can hardly be accused of acting the shrinking violet–the problem with her is the opposite: if anything, she’s overly shrill and abrupt, spitting out her oh-so-clever lines in so clipped a voice that she becomes more of a sitcom caricature than a rounded, credible figure (just think of the know-it-all Miss Hathaway from “The Beverly Hillbillies” as a mom).

Fugit and McDormand create a really serious problem for the film, because the viewer finds himself constantly looking to the margins of “Almost Famous” for amusement, rather than concentrating on the Crowe-surrogate who’s presumably intended to be our primary interest. The difficulty isn’t fatal, happily, because the writer-director has created a sufficiently varied and colorful background to make up in large measure for the rather muted central character and his larger-than-life mother, but “Almost Famous” could have been absolutely first-rate if William and Elaine were as well-drawn and expertly played as the figures who surround them. Not even improvements along these lines, however, could have saved the picture’s final act, which ties everything up much too neatly and makes sure that all the interpersonal dilemmas are resolved by the end. A little more of the raggedness of the earlier portions of the movie, and less of a desire to send the audience away in complete contentment, would have made for a truer, and more satisfying, resolution.

Still, after all is said and done Crowe’s fictionalized recollection of his early days retains enough warmth, humor and insight to rate a qualified recommendation. It’s a doughnut of a movie: even with a hole at the center, it’s tasty enough to pass muster.