The latest take on Fame, an edgy ’80s construction built on perseverance through real-life hardships, has become filled with pleasant platitudes such as reaching for celestial bodies, overcoming mountains, never giving up hope and other slogans usually seen on office posters. It’s a frigid and empty drama built on teen clichés and faux-grit while set against a thumping urban beat.
It’s like spotting a wiener dog wearing a pit-bull mask…but not nearly as cute.
Much like the 1980 original from Alan Parker, Kevin Tancharoen’s updated version strips away emotion and substance only to cram the film with sappy melodrama and see-thru grit. Besides the movie’s PG-rated slant (the original was rated-R) which is skewed towards the Disney/High School Musical crowd, the dismal writing from Allison Burnett and shoddy performances, sans Megan Mullally, Charles S. Dutton and Kelsey Grammer, bring the film down to a level of boredom not felt since the creation of the Venetian Waltz.
The teen cast represents each program offered at the New York High School for the Performing Arts. From the upper-class blond dancer (So You Think You Can Dance’s Kherington Payne) to the angry African-American kid with no dad (Collins Pennie) and the forced-classical-pianist-who-wants-to-sing-but-her-jerk-dad-won’t-let-her (Naturi Naughton from Notorious), practically every character fits into the proverbial cliché glove. All that is missing is the token talented kid who doesn’t want to learn the basics because he’s, like, so talented. Oh wait, we do have one (Walter Perez). We also have the uptight girl who studies and studies and studies some more and then learns a lesson of love (Kay Panabaker) courtesy of The Harmless Kid (Asher Book).
Taking place during a quick four-year stint at the school, the students realize what they’re meant to do in their life, like becoming a cast member on Sesame Street. The teachers in the film are cast perfectly, including Bebe Neuwirth, the Broadway luminary and Fraiser’s ex-wife. They’re by far the most interesting parts of the film (not good since the movie is supposed to be about the teenage walking-talking stereotypes) besides the stellar dance routines and musical vignettes.
Fame has too many uninteresting story-lines, (many of which are unresolved, while others are directionless and half-baked) to propel forward and what is left is a fluffy entry for the once defined and noble engagement of New York City life for kids struggling to become something in the field of professional performance artistry.
Like a Britney Spears bio-pic, Fame looks good on the surface but is tragically stale.
Rating:
[starreview tpl=16]
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The movie had such a good vibe in the early stages before we actually started to shoot it. In fact, it had such good energy going on, that it was a pity it ended up being cut-up/chop-chopped and 'sanitized'. There were a lot of scenes that unfortunately did not make the final cut. These scenes showed stories about true friendship, love, passion, relationships, sexuality, disappointments and successes in detail thru character development. Though the locked version was 'tamed down' because of the PG rating, a DVD directors cut would probably show the actual stories of the 10 different characters.
It seemed that Mr. Tancharoen forgot (maybe intentionally?) that he had 10 characters to develop. It appeared that there was concentration on one, Ms. Panabaker (and how could her character pass such a rigid audition?), Mr. Book, Mr. Pennie, Ms. Naughton (who sang very well) and Ms. Payne. Whatever happened to Mr. Iacono, Mr. McGill, Ms. Perez de Tagle, Ms. Flores (what character did she portray?) and Mr. Perez? What are their life stories or experiences?
Being part of the crew, I witnessed a number of scenes where Joy (Anna Maria P), Kevin (Paul McG, who plays a gay dancer…did you notice?) and Neil (Paul I) developed and established their friendship. There was a dramatic/touching scene where Joy and Neil made the whole crew shed tears and I thought that would have been a clincher in the film. But sad to say, it ended up in the editors bin. Ms. Perez de Tagle should have been given more substantial scenes. She really is a "Joy" to watch. If I may add, Mr. McGill as handsome as he is, should have been given the same opportunity. In my opinion, these three characters would have been able to show the true color of FAME.
Needless to say, Mr. Tancharoen should have captured the true essence of the "New York PA youth" by utilizing and developing all of his characters evenly. In my opinion, he could have done that, if he had chosen to do so. However, it seems that Mr. Tancharoen concentrated on just one character's development……….Jenny (Ms. Panabaker)….whom he had 'captured' and "captivated" way before the filming was over. Sad, utterly sad, but true.
Give it a chance, view it in it's entirety. Maybe a PG-13 rating would have made the FAME re-invention……….'live forever'
Thank you.
KW, Beverly Hills, CA
Heeeey, well said! <golf-clap>
Thanks for stopping by and posting your thoughts!
Just got back from seeing Fame (thank goodness it was a short movie); My first reaction is, for a movie that was supposed to take place on a stage for the most part, it all felt too… staged.
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