Although reluctant, Lester likes William's enthusiasm and thus assigns him to do a story on Black Sabbath. William's mother, Elaine (FRANCES McDORMAND), a college professor and restrictive parent, isn't crazy about the idea, but drops him off at the concert, making him promise that he won't do drugs.
Once there, William meets several groupies, including Sapphire (FAIRUZA BALK), Polexia (ANNA PAQUIN) and Penny Lane (KATE HUDSON), the latter of whom he's instantly smitten with. He also meets the up and coming band, Stillwater, consisting of lead guitarist Russell Hammond (BILLY CRUDUP), lead singer Jeff Bebe (JASON LEE), bass player Larry Fellows (MARK KOZELEK), drummer Ed Vallencourt (JOHN FEDEVICH) and their manager Dick Roswell (NOAH TAYLOR). As they're opening for Sabbath, they manage to get him backstage for their performance.
Although they consider him the enemy since they play for the fans and not the critics, the members of Stillwater like William's style and thus invite him along on their tour. With his mother reluctantly letting him go, and then getting a freelance assignment to write a story for Rolling Stone magazine, William travels across America with the band and witnesses the varied dynamics and dramatic conflict of the rock and roll lifestyle while on the road.
Those encounters display bad attitudes since most of the band members are cheating on their significant others while on tour and then treat their groupies as exchangeable playthings. Various characters drink and smoke, while some do drugs (and others talk about them) including the lead guitarist who gets high on acid and the main groupie who takes what's apparently an overdose of Quaaludes (and has to have her stomach pumped in a hotel room).
Some tense family moments are present including that of a daughter/mother conflict where the 18-year-old daughter moves out, while violence consists of a band member accidentally receiving a severe electric shock and a bus purposefully driving through a locked fence. Meanwhile, some imitative behavior is present as are two scenes (including one onboard a small plane being tossed about by a storm) that may be a bit suspenseful to some viewers.
If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may wish to see it, we suggest that you more closely examine the detailed content listings in whatever categories are of concern to you.
For those concerned with repetitive flashing of bright lights, some of that occurs in scenes featuring darkened stages illuminated by flashes of stage lights as well as during a thunderstorm.
All Rights Reserved,
(2000) (Patrick Fugit, Billy Crudup) (R)
Alcohol/
DrugsBlood/Gore
Disrespectful/
Bad AttitudeFrightening/
Tense ScenesGuns/
Weapons
Heavy
Minor
Heavy
Mild
None
Imitative
BehaviorJump
ScenesMusic
(Scary/Tense)Music
(Inappropriate)Profanity
Moderate
Minor
None
Mild
Extreme
Sex/
NuditySmoking
Tense Family
ScenesTopics To
Talk AboutViolence
Heavy
Moderate
Mild
Mild
Mild
CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.
(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).
Reviewed September 16, 2000 / Posted September 22, 2000
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