When just a simple human with a recollection of his post-adolescent childhood can create such an emotionally trying masterpiece, its greatness must be taken piece by piece.

The film in question is "Jerry Maguire" writer-director Cameron Crowe's latest work, "Almost Famous," which mirrors the part of his life he spent as a music reporter for Rolling Stone.

This film allows its actors to venture into the realm of weird, lackadaisical, careless wanderers, the lot of them either composing the 1970s band Stillwater or the roadies that follow them around the country in an untrustworthy tour bus resembling a 10,000-pound bullet.

Shining brighter than the rest of the cast are William Miller (Patrick Fugit) and Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), whose innocent yet unseen love for each other gives the movie a surprisingly strong hold on the audience. The film carries on to include very comedic, raw, heartbreaking, sexually charged and just really funny scenes.

Hudson - the daughter of actress Goldie Hawn - plays the part of Penny, a 16-year-old beauty traveling with Stillwater and especially Russel Hammond (Billy Crudup), the lead guitarist and stud of the band. Hudson's role becomes increasingly obvious as the movie pushes forward. At first, she appears to be a groupie or "band-aide," in her words. But as the slender queen vomits a bunch of quailudes in a Boston hotel, it becomes very clear that she serves as a muse- for everyone, including Miller, who falls hopelessly in love with her even though she nearly completes the Kama Sutra with Hammond.