Fifteen year old Shir Carmi is her school’s resident nerd, and with this we already see Almost Famous‘ first mistake. The actress playing her, Niv Sultan, reminds me of Alicia Vikander. So the movie tries to dress her down to try to convince us that she can play the part.

Anyway, Shir gets a life raft out of her lot. Her brother Tomer (Omer Dror) enters a reality TV singing competition. When he becomes a favourite to win the show, she becomes popular by association.

Yes, it shares the same title as a Cameron Crowe movie. Marco Carmel’s Almost Famous also shows the pitfalls of pursing that golden ticket. This time around it shows how fame affects Shir and her fellow teenage Israelis. It shows her school as pop culture trickles down into those youngsters.

Almost Famous tries to be a satire of contemporary youth based culture, as fame turns Shir into a manipulative narcissist. It changes everyone, including Tomer, whom the show from a introspective hippy to a Hemsworth brother.

Successful versions of these satires need solid characters. This one sadly does not, since everyone’s motivations here seem to either shift or are nonexistent. The film features Shir’s classmates who are vacuous and mean in an outdated way.

There is the one exception being her best friend Roni (Amit Yagur). The people in her home life baffle me as well. Shir is related to the most violent Yogis whom I’ve ever seen in movies. Tomer and his father Avner (Nathan Ravitz) get cagey whenever they don’t get what they want.

The film gets its story from Michal Bachar’s books. From what I hear, it doesn’t stick to the source material. I’m fine with creative adaptations. But this one just makes me hate teenagers more than I already do.