Crowe draws on his time on the road as a young hack for Rolling Stone magazine in his semi autobiographical "coming of age" film. Crowe toured with the Allman brothers and Zepplin but has invented the band Stillwater to be his onscreen musical protagonists.

The film centres around Crowe’s alter ego, William Miller and his relationships with Stillwater’s guitarist, Russell, and "Penny Lane" the leader of the "bandaids" (a bunch of girl groupies who like nothing better than to deny that they are groupies).

Crowe manages to create an authentic feel to the time in which his story is set. This is not only due to the fact that he himself went through the experiences that William does, but also due to the fact that he is married to Nancy Wilson of US super group Heart who, with guitarist Peter Frampton wrote the songs for Stillwater and turn the cast members into a real band. This approach was really successful as the concert footage looks totally genuine. They had me fooled anyway

The film has something of a documentary feel but it is a series of cameos (unseen in the case of David Bowie) and anecdotal set pieces that contribute to the feel good factor. Crowe’s obvious affection for the period is assisted by many hidden and not so hidden references. Russell quoting of Zepplin frontman Robert Plant is only thinly veiled and , yes it was me who spotted the famous prism from Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon reflected in the car windscreen as the calendar rolled over to 1973. You can see IMDBs confirmation of this and other trivia here.

All in all an excellent film with a blistering soundtrack, great characterisation and acting, that deserved the acknowledgment of the Academy at this year’s Oscars.