FAME (2009) review by Gary Dean Murray

To be bluntly honest, I have never seen the original movie Fame. I have nothing against the film but it is just another example where a movie just seems to slip through the cracks. I know the song and have seen the odd bits and pieces of the original on television while channel surfing. I know when those parody flicks made fun of different aspects from the 1980 film with all those jumping dancers in leg warmers, but I have never actually sat down and viewed the entire first flick. It should also be noted that I never watched the television show either. So, I basically came in as a newbie on this 21st century launch of the franchise. And this version of Fame is a mixed bag.

In the first cliché of Fame, the movie opens with auditions. There are kids who play instruments, dance, sing and act - all trying to impress the teachers of the New York High School for the Performing Arts. One of the biggest 'inside film' laughs happens when Joy (Anna Maria Perez de Tagle) does as her acting monologue a scene from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. We see teens struggle with their abilities while other just seem to have the talent flow from their fingertips. Some of the teachers become stern task masters (Bebe Neuwirth), while others seem to be looking for the more subtle aspects of talent (Kelsey Grammar and Charles S. Dutton) - teachers who just want to push as many buttons on the kids, getting different reactions and building on the gut feelings. All the teachers strive for stage perfection in their own ways.

But the story is of the kids. We have the dancer who has the drive but not the talent, the dancer who has all the talent and all the drive, the actress who is unsure but committed, and the actor who is sure and committed but brooding. There is the wacky filmmaker trying to tell a cinematic story and the piano prodigy who yearns to go past classical music. With such a large cast of characters, we get pencil sketch roles and not fully developed people. One never has a connection with any single person on the screen.

It goes through four years of loves and loss, hope and change. All the time the Fame kids never seem to get any older or alter their basic look. But through all the dancing and singing, there are a few true moments. A group of kids and the teachers go to a bar and sing. When Megan Mullally is tricked into singing, everyone sees just how talented their teacher actually is. One asks her why she didn't make it, and her staccato answer becomes the most honest moment of Fame. It takes more than just raw talent to make it in show business.



Of the kids, the biggest find has to be Naturi Naughton as Denise. She is the classical piano student with stern parents. While she wants to do something more, she is pushed down and back. Her demanding respect to be something different than what her parents wish becomes a pure moment. She has a wonderful singing voice and talent that just leaps ahead of her co-stars. This film could make her the next big Hollywood thing.

A giant aspect that is missing in this version of Fame is 'the song', that musical moment that just sticks in the brain. We get different musical numbers that make sense in the general context of the film, but none of the interludes attach to the cerebellum. There is no toe-tapping tune in this edition of the movie.

Allison Burnett crafted the update from the original Christopher Gore script. But the final film feels like a cut and paste job. We see four years encapsulated into under two hours but with such a large cast, there is little development of the individual. They go from year to year, but never seem to grow from year to year. There are moments of brilliance but never moments of understanding. Call it a Cliff Notes version of the artistic life. The direction captures the beats of the film but never the soul of the performers. It is more flash than substance.

This film is made to appeal to the teen female audience and it should bring in the kids in droves. That is where the biggest flaw of the film lies. In a world where we get the 'reality' of American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance, a fictionalized version of these events just falls flat. While the dancing is exciting, Fame just doesn't hold up as a film.

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