If you haven't already sold your soul to rock & roll, Almost Famous should seal the deal. It’s pure pleasure. Just don’t expect the dark side. Not since A Hard Day’s Night has a movie caught the thrumming exuberance of going where the music takes you.

The film shimmers with the irresistible pleasures that define Hollywood at its best -- it's polished like glass, funny, knowing and bright, and filled with characters whose lives are invariably sexier and more purposeful than our own.

It's a coming-of-age tale compressed into a few mad weeks. And Crowe, the ex-journalist, captures the essence of good journalism -- its watchfulness, persistence and that instinct for a good human story.

Perhaps the most flat-out entertaining movie of its year.