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Movie Review: Fame ( ** )
Fame is a shame, so who do we blame?
Well, we’ll start with director Kevin Tancharoen, a choreographer with a background in television, who makes his directing debut in this soggy remake by offering lots of energy and earnestness and virtually no drama or comedy.
Oh, he’s added half-a-dozen new songs and lavished his attention on the splashy choreography, but he’s also failed to protect the narrative spine — not that there’s much of one to begin with. And he hasn’t managed to allow even one performance of merit or substance to emerge.
The original 1980 Fame, an influential, high-energy hit from British director Alan Parker that won two Academy Awards for music and was Oscar-nominated in four additional categories, also spawned a television series, a Broadway musical, a world tour, and a reality TV show.
But it apparently lent precious little in the way of true inspiration to this reinvented Fame (rated PG rather than the original’s R), which once again focuses on a group of performers — singers, dancers, musicians, and actors — over their four years at New York City High School of Performing Arts as they showcase their talents and prepare for what they hope will be the tantalizing promise made by the film’s title.
As if the pressures of high school aren’t bad enough, they are magnified here because of the intensely competitive nature of the school. America’s got talent, all right, and a lot of it is on fearless display right in this building and among this promising and talented young cast.
But energy is not the same thing as drama, just as a pep rally is not the same thing as a play or a movie.
And the spotlight that all the young principals on display yearn for isn’t enough to bring this meandering musical drama to life. By the time the graduation-performance finale rolls around, the only song playing in your head will be Peggy Lee’s “Is That All There Is?”
The primary students are played by Asher Book, Paul McGill, Kristy Flores, Paul Iacono, Kay Panabaker, Naturi Naughton, Collins Pennie, Kherington Payne, Walter Perez, and Anna Maria Perez de Tagle.
Let’s hope for their sake that this launches a few big-screen careers. Let’s further hope that Fame Redux isn’t the only item on any of their resumes.
The mentoring faculty is played by savvy veterans including Debbie Allen (as the principal), Charles S. Dutton, Kelsey Grammer, Bebe Neuwirth, and Megan Mullally (so, yes, TV sitcoms Frasier and Will and Grace continue to exert influence).
Allison Burnett’s screenplay is soft, sketchy, and shapeless, with jarringly abrupt transitions and too many characters focused on over the span of too much time, resulting in an awkward mosaic instead of a fluid narrative.
And director Tancharoen builds up so little momentum as the film proceeds, the climax generates no payoff at all: the emotional impact of what should be the film’s extended highlight is virtually nonexistent. A sequence intended to bring down the house instead falls pancake flat.
In the end, this Fame seems fashioned to please a forgiving audience of viewers who relish watching singers sing and dancers dance, regardless of the vehicle they’re featured in. Few others are likely to walk away feeling sufficiently entertained.
The price of Fame, in this case, is two hours of nothing much.
Bill Wine – Celebrity News Service Movie Critic/ AHN
107 minutes
In theaters September 25, 2009
Rating: PG, Musical drama
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