Great Scene: “Almost Famous”

Put a group of people into an airplane that is seemingly about to crash and see what last-minute confessions the characters make. That was what writer-director Cameron Crowe was thinking when he penned this great scene in the movie Almost Famous (2000).

INT. BAND PLANE — DAY

Russell and William are in mid-interview. The kid’s microphone
 is out. It’s a little bit of a rough flight. William wears
 the same clothes.

RUSSELL
 Why didn’t you come back to the party?
 Bob Dylan showed up. He was sitting
 at our table for… had to be an hour,
 right? Just Rapping. Bob Dylan! I
 kept looking for you. I was going to
 introduce you.

The kid feels pain.

JEFF
 What happened to you last night?

WILLIAM
 It’s a log story.

A sharp jolt of turbulence. Russell begins pounding on the
 card table in rhythm.

RUSSELL
 (singing Buddy Holly)
 “Peggy Sure… Peggy Sue… “

DICK
 Please.

RUSSELL
 “Pretty pretty pretty pretty Peggy
 Sue… “

A moment of laughter, and then bam. Jeff’s drink rises and
 suspends briefly in mid-air. The plane takes another mighty
 knock.

JEFF
 We shouldn’t be here.

RUSSELL
 Doris, we miss you!

Fear is creeping in around the edges. William, already an
 uneasy flier, looks down.

PILOT’S VOICE
 This is Craig, your pilot. It appears
 we’ve caught the edge of that electrical
 storm we were trying to outrun. Buckle
 up tight now. We’re gonna do our best
 to getcha out of this.

The rocking of the plane worsens, as all buckle up.

JEFF
 “Electrical storm?”

RUSSELL
 (strapping in for a roller
 coaster)
 Rock and roll.

The sky darkens abruptly. William looks up, increasingly
 nervous, stares straight ahead. The plane suddenly drops and
 stabilizes. Everyone is silent but Russell.

RUSSELL (cont’d)
 Wooooooo Baby!

A moment later, an ashen-faced CO-PILOT emerges, balancing
 himself with hands on the ceiling of the shuddering plane.

CO-PILOT
 We’re gonna try to land in Tupelo.
 We’re going to have to cut the inside
 lighting for the next several minutes.
 We found a field to land in.

The kid notices Silent Ed is rubbing a small crucifix.

DENNIS HOPE
 A field?

JEFF
 I can’t breathe.

Push in on Russell. We hear a series of unfamiliar electrical
 sounds. The plane screwballs through the sky.

CO-PILOT
 It might be a rough set-down. We should
 be fine.
 (cracking at the edges)
 But what we do say in a situation like
 this is — We would pass but before the
 plane … disassembled. However, God
 help us, if there’s anything you want
 to say to each other, any secrets,
 anything like that, now would be a
 good time. But just hang in there.
 We’ll get you out of this.

He returns to the cockpit. The weather worsens, as the hail
 suddenly pelts the plane, and it comes down hard. Inside lights
 shut off. William stares straight ahead, as the cockpit door
 swings open — total chaos visible inside — and then shuts again.

DICK
 And everyone thinks it’s so glamorous
 out here.

LARRY
 (oddly detached)
 He just told us we’re gonna die.

JEFF
 (insecurities running wild)
 We’re gonna crash in Elvis’ hometown —

RUSSELL
 Shut up.

JEFF
 — we can’t even die in an original
 city!

RUSSELL
 C’mon Dennis, get us a better city.

Nervous laughter. Another sheet of hail hits the plane.

LESLIE
 Oh my God.

PUSH IN ON WILLIAM

Just shaking. Nearly in tears. Hyperventilating.

RUSSELL
 If something should happen. I love
 all of you. I don’t think we have to
 do the secrets thing.

The plane shakes. Now lightening strikes very close. A
 flashing wall of electricity rolls through the plane and
 evaporates with a burning smell still in the air. In the
 darkness:

DENNIS HOPE
 I once hit a man in Dearborn, Michigan.
 A hit-and-run. I hit him and kept on
 going. I don’t know if he’s alive or
 dead, but I’m sorry.

LESLIE
 (gripped with fear)
 Oh my God.

The plane wildly rises, and falls. It stops for a moment. A
 strange smooth patch.

DICK
 I love you all too, and you’re my
 family. Especially since Marna left
 me. But if I ever took an extra dollar
 or two, here and there, it was because
 I knew I’d earned it.

RUSSELL
 I slept with Marna, Dick.

JEFF
 I did too.

LARRY
 I waited until you broke up with her.
 But me too.

JEFF
 I also slept with Leslie, when you
 were fighting.

RUSSELL
 You… slept with Jeff?

LESLIE
 Yes, but it didn’t count. It was the
 summer we decided to be free of all
 rules.

RUSSELL
 (to Jeff)
 And you say you “love me.”

JEFF
 (the truth)
 I don’t love you, man. I never did.

RUSSELL
 Please. Enough.

JEFF
 NONE of us love you. You act above
 us. You ALWAYS HAVE!!

LARRY
 Finally. The truth.

JEFF
 You just held it over us, like you
 light leave… like we’re lucky to be
 with you. And we had to live with it.
 I had to live with you, and now I might
 die with you and it’s not fucking fair.

William watches, catatonic.

RUSSELL
 (to Larry and Ed)
 You hate me? You too?

Larry stares at him. Ed says nothing.

RUSSELL (cont’d)
 All this love. All this loyalty.
 (incredulous, giddy)
 And you don’t even like me.

JEFF
 And I’m still in love with you Leslie.

Bam. The plane is pulling sideways, and dropping altitude.

LESLIE
 I don’t want to hear anymore. Shut
 up! Shut up! Shut up!

RUSSELL
 (to Jeff)
 Whatever happens, you’re dead.

JEFF
 Don’t be self-righteous, Russell, not
 now. You were sleeping with Penny,
 that groupie. Last summer, and up
 until yesterday. Why don’t you tell
 Leslie THAT?

Russell tries to get up and attack him. The force keeps him
 in his seat. He yells. Loud.

DENNIS
 (freaking out)
 I quit.

The turbulence worsens. William finds his mouth saying
 emotional words he cannot control.

WILLIAM
 “That groupie?” She was a Band-Aid.
 All she did was love your band. And
 you all — 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’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.

Russell and Jeff stare at each other. The plane is rocking
 very very hard. Leslie is crying.

ED
 I’m gay.

They all turn to the silent drummer. (It’s his first spoken
 dialogue of the movie.)

Then.

The plane pops out from below the clouds. Sunshine spikes
 through the embattled windows of the plane, as they float
 downwards to the city of Tupelo, Mississippi. A very very
 uneasy silence fills the plane. No one can look at each other.
 Out bursts the Co-Pilot, giddy with victory.

CO-PILOT
 Thank God above, WE’RE ALIVE!! WE’RE
 ALIVE!! WE’RE GONNA MAKE IT!!

Shot of all the occupants, ending with Russell. Suddenly, the
 alternative seems far more attractive. We hear Rod Stewart’s
 “Jo’s Lament” as music plays over their still-shocked faces.

INT. TUPELO AIRPORT CORRIDOR — DAY

Music continues, as they walk together like ghosts in a long
 and very pregnant silence, ignoring the kid. Everything is
 different now. The kid peels off and throws up in a dumpster.
 We continue with the band, unhappily moving forward. William
 hustles back to catch up. They ignore him. There are much
 bigger thoughts in play. No one wants to speak.

JEFF
 Well, I think we can build on this new
 honesty.

Boom. Russell attacks him, and they’re pulled apart. The
 band continues moving forward, arriving at a fork in the airport
 terminals. William stops. This is where he must part company.
 He stands at the mouth of the next terminal, as the band
 continues, unaware he’s split off. He watches their backs,
 they’ve forgotten him.

Then Russell turns, sensing something missing. William. All
 now stop and turn. Still shell-shocked, they summon a pre-
 occupied but heartfelt goodbye. William waves. Music
 continues.

Nothing like the prospect of death to force characters to become honest. And how about that topper line: “I’m gay!” Here’s the movie scene:

[Originally posted May 8, 2009]

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