There isn’t much escapism in stories about being poor and unknown, equally we can’t all relate to the gilded banality of life for the rich and famous. The interesting stuff is somewhere in between with the almost famous – the gifted underdog, trending upwards but not yet assured of making it.
The almost famous hero has talent enough for some to see a limitless potential while others will see a threat to be dealt with, but all will see the human foibles that will ultimately seal the hero’s fate or define his competitive edge.
Maybe these days we would consider a scrappy underdog story like this to be an overused sports movie trope, but in the ‘80s it was.
