And while I saw Almost Famous at a moment that seems an almost impossibly long time ago, and the person I was when I saw it seems impossibly young to me now, I still understand why Simmons loves it so much. Come on: Zooey Deschanel entrusting her record collection to her brother as she sets off on a journey certain to leave her less open and hopeful than she was before? Philip Seymour Hoffman learning Patrick Fugit about journalism? Kate Hudson dancing to "The Wind"?
That movie contains more moments than almost any other, where if they leave you cold, I just don't understand you. I'm not a big fan of "best" lists, or of passing judgement on things that make some arbitrary cut and things that don't. But Almost Famous is the best movie I know for capturing an exceedingly brief moment when life seems endlessly expansive, and bright, and beautiful, and the pain of leaving that moment behind. Simmons may be crazy for treating it as the Key to Sports. But he's not wrong about its greatness.