Crowe's alter ego is young William Miller (Patrick Fugit). He comes from a home where his mother (Francis McDormand) has outlawed rock music (she claims it's all about drugs and promiscuous sex). Mom's attitudes drive away William's sister, but not before she turns over her secret stash of albums to him. He quickly becomes fascinated by the music and sets out to write about it. William finagles a meeting with a famous critic for Creem magazine. He is Lester Bangs (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), who warns William against befriending rock stars, since most of them are just looking to pump their own egos by manipulating writers.

The group Stillwater with their groupies and tour bus in Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous

Lester gives the boy a chance to write for Creem, and soon after, Rolling Stone offers William an assignment. He gets the chance to follow a group called Stillwater as they tour. William wants to interview the charismatic lead singer Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup), but Russell is fully engulfed in the rock lifestyle; he ingests drugs, parties all night, and cavorts with Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), a so-called "band-aid" who offers her "inspiration" to the musicians. Penny and her crew insist that they are not groupies, as they come for the music, not for the chance to have sex with rock stars (although that happens too). William soon learns a lot more than he expected: musicians and "band-aids" form a strange kind of family; the "band-aids" (especially Penny) have more substance and heart than it seems; and sometimes fame and fortune corrupt the purity of the music. It quickly becomes apparent that he has, in fact, befriended his subjects. But how should the story be written? Does he tell the truth about the decadent things he sees, or does he do a puff piece about the people he idolizes, the people who make him feel cool?

There are so many great elements in Almost Famous, beginning with the acting. McDormand and Hoffman take small parts and create miracles from them. With minimal screen time, the actors invest their characters with fully developed personalities that contribute greatly to the movie's overall impact. They're superb, although it's the central trio of Fugit, Crudup, and Hudson who are the heart of the story. Each of their characters is deeply in love with the music, but their mutual passion takes them down very different roads. William wants to write about it, Russell wants to live it, and Penny wants to be close to it. The characters form a sort of love triangle, too. Penny loves Russell because of his talent, William loves Penny because of her emotion, and Russell loves William because he's the only "real" person he knows.

The atmosphere Crowe creates is also a high point. Like another of my favorite movies - L.A. Confidential - Almost Famous makes you feel like you are in a specific time and place. It captures the feel and excitement of the 1970's rock and roll era. While everyone knows of the decadent sex and drug use that was prevalent, you get a surprising feel for the comradery. Messed up or not, the people who share the tour bus are a family. In one of the best scenes, everyone breaks the monotony of the road by launching into a rendition of Elton John's "Tiny Dancer." It's a nice, quiet moment. The louder moments are just as good. When Stillwater takes the stage, it feels like being lifted via time capsule to a real performance in a different decade (especially when seen in a theater equipped with digital sound).

Most of all Almost Famous beautifully shows us the people who lived their lives in celebration of the music and all it represented. It's no accident that William and Penny are the central characters. They are on the fringe, never making the music, but always uncontrollably attracted to it. Fugit is a newcomer with a promising future. He conveys the wide-eyed naivety that any teenage kid would have in the midst of rock stars. Hudson (the daughter of Goldie Hawn) has made some other pictures but comes into her own here. Her performance is so real, so tender, that she deserves serious Oscar consideration. It would have been easy to make Penny just a moth to the rock and roll flame, but Hudson gives her an intellect that suggests so much more. For Penny Lane, the music is a healer, even when it's breaking her heart.

Cameron Crowe just seems to get better with every movie. By tapping into his own life, he has struck gold once again. Almost Famous is many things: a rock and roll valentine, a coming of age story, a love triangle, and a morality play. It stars off with a bang and never makes a wrong move. Crowe's passion for the subject matter is obvious, especially in the ending, which avoids meaningless nostalgia in favor of emotional truth. This is one of the best, and most heartfelt, movies of the year. Almost Famous is almost perfect.

( out of four)

Almost Famous is rated R for language, drug content, and brief nudity. The running time is 2 hours and 5 minutes.