Coming-of-Age; Comedy-Drama; Historical Fiction

At its core, Almost Famous is a coming-of-age film. William learns quite a bit on his journey about professionalism, about love, and about what it means to be cool.

Like pretty much all of Cameron Crowe's movies, Almost Famous straddles the line between comedy and drama. It's full of humor, with no shortage of hilarious moments, and these moments beautifully complement the movie's more intense, dramatic scenes. In Almost Famous,there's certainly no shortage of heartbreak. The movie ends on an upbeat note, though, with an emphasis on the lighthearted side of things.

The movie is firmly rooted in its historical setting: the soundtrack is filled with songs that paint a vivid picture of the era, and we know that we couldn't be anywhere else but the early 70's based just on the music we're hearing. Because of its autobiographical origins, Cameron Crowe's film features several real-life characters (Lester Bangs, Ben Fong-Torres) and bands (Led Zeppelin, The Who), while placing the fictitious Stillwater squarely in the middle of this scene.