Almost Famous Scene 17 Summary

"The Wind"

  • In Cleveland, the band parties in their hotel room. William sits alone in his room.
  • At the venue, William calls his mother while Russell watches. Before long, Russell takes over the phone. He is surprised when he receives a strong lecture from Elaine, complete with a Goethe quote.
  • "Your mom kinda freaked me out," Russell later says to William. "She means well," William responds, putting a hand on his shoulder.
  • The band celebrates post-gig, and William finally sits down to interview Russell… but he is quickly interrupted by Dick. The record label wants a big name manager to come in and manage the band, Dick says. The interview, again, is postponed.
  • Dennis Hope (played by a young Jimmy Fallon), the new manager, enters the room. The band is leery of his big-business mentality, but Hope convinces them that he can help them make money while they still can.
  • "If you think Mick Jagger will still be out there trying to be a rock star at age fifty," Dennis Hope explains, "then you are sadly, sadly mistaken." (Of course, Mick Jagger, lead singer of the Rolling Stones, is still out there with his band past the age of 70. Take that, Dennis Hope.)
  • As the camera lingers on William, we hear Lester Bangs's voice: "You're coming along at a very dangerous time for rock and roll," Lester says. "The war is over, they won. And they will ruin rock and roll, and strangle everything we love about it."
  • We cut to Penny dancing on the garbage-strewn floor of the Cleveland arena, as "The Wind" by Cat Stevens plays. This is Cameron Crowe's favorite scene in the entire film.