THE STORY OF HOW CAMERON CROW BECAME A ROLLINGSTONE

Winter at 15 in 1973 seems almost to good to be true, and so does the movie he's made about it. A film overflowing with rich performances abetted by a remarkable, lovingly   crafted script, Almost Famous is every bit as funny and insightful as Crowe's well-loved Jerry Maguire. As William Miller, a San Diego teen invited to tour with the fictional Stillwater, a band struggling to rise beyond its status as Black Sabbath's opening act during the golden age of the sex-drugs-rock&roll lifestyle, newcomer Patrick Fugit nails the combination of arrogance and naiveté that burdens all prodigies. Apart from learning the meaning of professional ethic ( with help from legendary rock critic Lester Bangs, played to perfection by Philip Seymour Hoffman ) and keeping this strict-but -loving mother ( a terrific France McDormand ) at bay, William's biggest dilemma involves his feelings for quais-groupie Penny Lane (the luminous Kate Hudson): He loves her, but she's stuck on Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup0. Stillwater's guitarist and the only band member who trusts William. Stillwater's foibles give the way it subverts the coming-of-age genre by asserting that losing one's virginity pals in comparison to what it really means to grow up. In the process, Crowe masterfully avoids crossing the line between honesty and cynicism, making Almost Famous as exuberant and intoxicated with possibility as the music of the period the film celebrates.