Can Reese Witherspoon and Ben Stiller rescue Cameron Crowe's awards hopes?

Seven years ago writer-director Cameron Crowe was riding high. His screenplay for "Almost Famous" had won him an Academy Award. And Crowe had just finished writing and directing "Vanilla Sky," which reunited him with Tom Cruise, the star of his 1996 smash hit "Jerry Maguire," which had earned five Oscar noms, including bids for best picture and screenplay (Crowe).

Now fast forward to the fall of 2005 and the misfire that was "Elizabethtown." This road trip comedy featuring a miscast Orlando Bloom as a thirtysomething in career crisis had run out of gas during its screenings at the Venice and Toronto filmfests. Though Crowe hastily trimmed the film from two hours plus, it did mediocre business when it was released in October.

Nearly three years on comes word via Variety that the wounded Crowe is ready to try and fly again with a new romantic comedy. His script has attracted the attention of two A-listers who define this genre — Reese Witherspoon and Ben Stiller.

With lensing set to start at the beginning of 2009, might we see all three of these thoroughbreds in the awards derby at year's end?

(New Line)