101 Greatest Screenplays of the 21st Century (*so far)

The quintessential rock ’n’ roll coming-of-age film is based on Cameron Crowe’s experiences as a 17-year-old correspondent for Rolling Stone. In reliving his home and road life, Crowe captures both the times and his heady place in it with heartfelt aplomb. As Crowe told Empire magazine on the film’s 20th anniversary, the challenge was writing something that was “personal but not indulgent, and might catch what it felt like to be at the rock circus back then.”