‘Fame’ is a Lame
-----Only two weeks after the cliché incarnate ‘Sorority Row,’ Hollywood dumped ‘Fame’ on us; a movie that would be more accurately titled ‘Cliché: The Movie.’ And what can one really hope for going into such an affair? This movie is not just a remake of the old ‘Fame,’ but a remake of every performance arts movie ever created. If I wanted to sit through a bunch of individual recitals, I would watch a game show.
-----‘Fame’ is about a High School in New York, where all your dreams will come true. After a vigorous (*cough*) tryout session, a number of students are admitted into the school. We then sit through their four years, which may as well have been one semester given the amount of character development that takes place. Will they make it into the big leagues? Probably, but then there’s that kid they threw in at the beginning for a dramatic touch-he’s screwed.
-----Kay Panabaker is insultingly bad in one of the film’s title roles, that of student Jenny Garrison. She doesn’t even seem to have a performance talent, because all we see her do is suck…but apparently she gets better off camera? Her melodrama, in between the dance routines and musical numbers, is some of the film’s worst. I can’t very well say why she was in ‘Fame’ at all, but my best guess would be some weird attempt to appeal to the “tween” population. Either that or she’s just there to move the plot along; but regardless, she’s pretty terrible. Naturi Naughton on the other hand, is pretty good as singer Denise Dupree. She’s got some of the film’s rare doses of legitimate talent, even if her character is an often-seen archetype. Asher Book is also a solid singer, though his romance with Panabaker is almost unbearable at times. On a side note, and I don’t want to step on any toes, every single one of the white males acts…fruity. It’s a peppy, high-pitched-voice, stereotype among white males in the performing arts, and here the film is soaked in it. I’d wager that if you were forced to sit through the film 30 times over, your voice would gradually start to rise with every viewing. In other news, Collins Pennie plays the angry rapper typecast, but at least he manages to be somewhat believable, if only on occasion. Rounding out the primary cast is Walter Perez as a likable student, along with good performances from Kelsey Grammer and Charles S. Dutton as teachers Martin Cranston and James Dowd respectively.
-----Movies like this seem to pride themselves on existing solely for the dance and song sequences, with all of them strewn together by brainless melodrama. The problem here is that, instead of focusing on dance or song, it tries to do both, not to mention some instrumental music. This means that only occasionally are any of the performances anything more than average, and the film never even tries something new or original during them. Even the corny ‘Step Up 2 the Streets’ had some top notch dance sequences, whereas ‘Fame’ just has melodrama and mediocrity. The scarce talented performers in the movie are confined to a few scenes, while the bland entries from other cast members (Kay Panabaker anyone?) force you to sit through cliché after cliché with no talent to show for it. Why would you watch ‘Fame’ when you could watch any number of game shows with superior performers and sans the staged teen angst?
-----The cinematography is intermittently nifty, serenely zooming through a couple of the better dance sequences, and even makes one of the melodramatic scenes look good. The music is everything from dull to grand, depending on the performer, though the art direction is occasionally laughable. What decade are these people in? Some seem to think they’re in the 80s version of ‘Fame’ judging from the clothes they wear, but most of them comply with the stereotype they’ve been assigned. The makeup crew fails to make the kids look any different in freshman year than senior year, and the plot doesn’t help as absolutely no change takes place for the students, save their sudden “fame.” Seriously, if they didn’t let you know onscreen what year it was, you may very well think this all happened within a month.
-----‘Fame’ is a really poorly executed film. If it weren’t for some solid, if unspectacular, performances, the film would be one of the years very worst. And seeing as everyone interested in the movie only goes for these performances, it can hardly be completely condemned for its ridiculous acting and brainless melodrama. In fact, anyone who paid to see the film after seeing the dreadfully cliché trailer…well, you may actually like what you see. Or rather, you won’t hate it. As for me, it proved to be what I had anticipated-‘Dance Flick’- but self-parodying as opposed to intentional parody. That’s not to suggest that ‘Fame’ is even in the ballpark of crap that ‘Dance Flick’ is, but a near worthless finale performance sure doesn’t do it any favors. There are options out there; I know I’d rather sit through ‘Step Up 2 the Streets,’ ‘Take the Lead,’ or even ‘School of Rock Lead’ again before I’d relive watching ‘Fame’ for the first time. So if you’re willing to skip out on the tons of films similar to, and often better than, ‘Fame,’ then go for it; a review won’t change your mind. If you have a taste for quality cinema on the other hand…well, you probably could have just watched the trailer instead of reading my review; it pretty much speaks for itself.
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