Lisa Schwarzbaum (22 May 2012)

NYC high school students sing, dance, emote in acting classes, and otherwise insist that America's got talent, but this unnecessarily tepid, conservative remake of 1980's far more famous and affecting original Fame suggests otherwise.

Jim Slotek (21 May 2012)

A bad film that at times is sublimely cheesy.

Louise Keller (17 May 2012)

A terrific score coupled with exciting choreography, tight editing and a talented cast make Fame a joyous and upbeat experience.

missige (16 May 2012)

FAME - maybe not

Okay, having seen the original Fame a number of times and having sungthe theme song aloud in public on a few embarrassing occasions, Iguessed that I would probably not be a big fan of the Fame re-make.But, nothing could have prepared me for the sheer awfulness that wasthis film. Two friends from work and I went to go see it and all three of us satthere, mouths open in disbelief that this piece of twaddle actuallymade it onto the big screen (or any screen).There is absolutely nothing endearing to say about this poor, scum of afilm that managed to plummet the legend that is FAME into a murkypuddle of repulsive acting, uninspired singing and dancing and sheerlack of substance. The characters are uninteresting, and unbelievable(apart from the classically trained pianist turned singer, none of theother PA kids have an ounce of real talent). I can't even recall thenames of any of the characters, because I was that uninterested intheir over-the-top, cheesy, teenage angst performances. I found myselfupset that the kid with the imitation flock of seagulls haircut wassaved from jumping in front of a subway train.I feel for former Frasier star Kelsey Grammar, whose cameo performanceaptly reflects his regret at agreeing to this shoddy piece of cinema,and the under-used, and abused Megan Mullaly who got my only snicker ofa laugh throughout the entire film for a sarcastic remark. As for the story lines - they were weak, poorly-developed (at one pointthe blonde ballerina, who we think may have been dating one of the PAstudents, just disappears from the film and no one seems to notice orcare). The characters of Marko and his pretentious, overly-actedgirlfriend had all the cheese, and none of the chemistry (read actingtalent) to pull off an honest romance. As for the choreography, simple, pedestrian and definitely not what youwould expect from the top performing arts students in the country.Personally, the burlesque, slutty dance performance towards the end ofthe film was in poor taste and, in my opinion, a meager attempt by thedirector to gain some audience interest - sadly to no avail.Dance films are supposed to inspire and have a general reputation offeel-good cinema, and all Fame made me feel was anger - at one point myfriend actually drop-kicked the screen (I am not exaggerating). To the scriptwriters who wrote this film, the producers whocommissioned it, the director who took it on, the future D-List actorswho were cast in it, and everyone who contributed in some way to themaking of this film - you should be ashamed ...

starrybucks8 (15 May 2012)

to quote --- http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article/movie-review-fame-2009#comments

The movie had such a good vibe in the early stages before we actuallystarted to shoot it. In fact, it had such good energy going on, that itwas a pity it ended up being cut-up/chop-chopped and 'sanitized'. Therewere 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 thrucharacter development. Though the locked version was 'tamed down'because of the PG rating, a DVD directors cut would probably show theactual stories of the 10 different characters.It seemed that Mr. Tancharoen forgot (maybe intentionally?) that he had10 characters to develop. It appeared that there was concentration onone, Ms. Panabaker (and how could her character pass such a rigidaudition?), Mr. Book, Mr. Pennie, Ms. Naughton (who sang very well) andMs. Payne. Whatever happened to Mr. Iacono, Mr. McGill, Ms. Perez deTagle, Ms. Flores (Did you notice her? what character did she portray?)and Mr. Perez? What are their life stories or experiences? Being partof the crew, I witnessed a number of scenes where Joy (Anna Maria),Kevin (Paul McG, who plays a gay dancer…did you notice?) and Neil (PaulI, obsessed film maker) developed and established their friendship.There was a dramatic/touching scene where Joy and Kevin made the wholecrew shed tears and I thought that would have been a clincher in thefilm. But sad to say, it ended up in the editors bin. Ms. Perez deTagle 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, shouldhave been given the same opportunity. In my opinion, these threecharacters would have been able to show the true color of FAME.Needless to say, Mr. Tancharoen should have captured the true essenceof the "New York PA youth" by utilizing and developing all of hischaracters evenly. In my opinion, he could have done that, if he hadchosen to do so. However, it seems that Mr. Tancharoen concentrated onjust 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 wouldhave made the FAME re-invention……….'live forever' Thank you.KW, Beverly Hills, CA

El_Macho_Grande (15 May 2012)

Entertaining enough to watch on a Saturday afternoon with nothing to do

Yeah it's pretty watered down, easily digestible, non-memorabletripe... just like most remakes. Annoyed I paid money to see this inthe theater, as opposed to accidentally stumbling onto it on HBO orsomething, but I didn't have much else to do so I went in with theright expectations. Some of the players in the film do seem to havetalent, but the characters were very blah for the most part. Gets anextra star because Charles S. Dutton is the man, no matter what role heplays.Overall, doesn't hold a candle to the original, which gives a betterlook at how life at a performing arts school would be. As opposed tothis one which shows how life at a performing arts school directed bythe guy who directs Britney Spears videos would be.

tyler-and-jack (11 May 2012)

A waste of talent.

Bad.There. Review done. Over. That's it.Okay, okay, I guess I should say a bit more here. Well, I'm old enoughto remember, and to remember having enjoyed, the older incarnation of"Fame" with the movie and TV show. It wasn't perfect but it was prettygood stuff, all about the perils of reaching for the stars while thefates are throwing hail at you.So I wondered just what they would do with the remake and how gritty itwould get (my memory is a bit hazy but I'm pretty sure that when theseries was on TV it was such a big hit because it wasn't all spanglesand stardust).It's just terrible. The adults/teachers are very, very good (with themost memorable characters played by Kelsey Grammar, Bebe Neuwirth,Megan Mullally and Charles S. Dutton) but the kids are simplyinterchangeable, a bunch of stereotypes walking around in skin sacks.There's the dreamy director who wants to act to know the whole processbetter (and how he ever passed his audition I'll never know though, tobe fair, he made me laugh a few times), the girl made to perfect hercraft at the cost of everything else, the dedicated actress naiveenough to think that it's just acting talent people are after, theangry young black rapper, the classical musician who produces phatbeats, etc, etc.I didn't really care for any of the people I saw on screen. Time passedby too quickly to work up any concern for their particular problems inany one term and everyone had roughly the same amount of highs andlows. Bizarrely, things never really got gritty. In fact, it felt likea diluted version of the old series crossed over with a number of "bignumber" moments designed with the Pop Idol generation in mind (KevinTancharoen showing why he got the gig, perhaps). Which is just sad.Yes, there are other good points. I thought Kay Panabaker was okay, Ireally liked Walter Perez and Naturi Naughton and Kherington Paynecan't half dance but the movie spreads these plus points amongst fartoo much dross. Oh, the "Carn-Evil" sequence was bright and lively,shame it was the only though.See this if you like: Fame, High School Musical, Step Up.

anita_ant_eater (11 May 2012)

At least they could sing!

Fame! I wanna live forever! Hmmmmmm....I think i died while watchingthis film.I can't compare it to the original as i haven't seen it. I was aroundwhen that came out and forgot to watch it i guess, but now i don't evenwant to bother watching it just to compare.It was incredibly boring, predictable and clichéd.The only thing i was impressed with was the woman from Will and Gracebeing able to sing so well. I loved her voice. I wish it was just amovie about her and her rise to FAME. I loved her voice. Oh, and theguy who wants to make movies, at the end he's talking to himself in thecamera and he has a poster of Killer Klowns from Outta Space. That's agood film.Not much was achieved in their four years at that school. Not oneexcelled, which would make me think twice about sending my kids to aschool like PA.There were too many characters, not enough time for their roles toexpand and to explain themselves.The girl Jenny, at the start she came across as timid and looked quiteyoung so you would think she would struggle at the beginning. Thatwhole shaking excersise where she had to release herself, the man toldher not to be embarrassed. So i thought she'd be the type to come outof her shell and impress us in the end. FAIL. At the end her voice wasboring, even throughout. Her character was boring and its funny hownaive she was. I liked the bit when she went to that guy's trailer andthought that there was nothing wrong when he suggested they have sex aspart of a scene he was rehearsing. No one is that stupid, so i laughedat her. She was stupid. Her stupid boyfriend was happy for no reason.He had a crap voice too.Victor the producer. He was stupid. Oh god, all these characters wereflat. He was boring. He obv came from a lower class poor background andhe fell for a girl who was from an upper class background and she foundhim "FUN". Yeah right, what they do? Nothing. Tho, i agree she was anOK dancer.Malik - black guy from the streets wants to be rapper/actor - YAWN.Then ends up teaming with Victor to be a producer and acts all bigheaded. And talks all street. And uses that girl Denise. Him and Victorboth do.DENISE, she could sing and she could play piano but really hercharacter was boring and i don't understand why they showed her dad andmum the most out of any of the other kids. So, her dad just wanted herto play piano and nothing else. What kind of dad is that? And the mumobv been beaten by the dad and finally she stands up to him in the endand he can't stand it. I can't go on, its just too boring.That gay guy, i really thought he'd be a good dancer in the end. Theteacher kept showing him up and putting him down, i really thought he'dexcel. So he tries to kill himself and then doesn't and becomes a danceteacher. How sad is that? He can't dance but will show kids how todance. Good one. What the hell was that Joy girl about? Token Chinese girl? I liked theguy who made films but he wasn't amazing.Nothing was amazing at the end. None of the dances were spectacular andnone of the songs were either.This film will probably be loved by little children who want to befamous when they are older and children who have just left school andwant to go out into the big bad world to make a living. They mightlearn something from this maybe - not to be too naive. I think i justdislike naive teenagers.And OMG, Don't get me started on Kelsey Grammar because i can't reallysay anything about him. Throughout the film he looked like he wasdying. He just looked bored.I really don't want to talk about this film anymore cos there isnothing else to say. Its just depressingly boring and clichéd and ihope none of those actors are in other films.I liked Megan Mullally singing though. She has a great voice. I hopeshe can have a part in another musical like Mamma Mia or Hairspray.

David Edwards (10 May 2012)

But its well-intentioned message and some likeable characters mean the teenage target audience should find plenty to enjoy.

Jeff Vice (09 May 2012)

While there are a few select highlights, it's nothing new and is certainly nothing exceptional or noteworthy.

mlystad1 (09 May 2012)

Terrible!

Fame 2 is a remake of the original Fame (1980). The film is aboutstudents at a performing arts school. We follow the teenagers throughthe high school as they try pursue their dreams while dealing withschool work, family problems and love. The film shows the downsides andupsides on being a young adults taking advantage of their talents. Itshows positive and negative sides of the entertainment business, howthe business take advantage of them, but also how they can get whatthey want as long as they work hard enough.The film is exactly like the original, boring. Fame 2 isn't youraverage chick flick, but you loose interest after a couple of minutesand a lot of the scenes are very predictable. There's a lack of humourand the film didn't do anything new with the storyline from theoriginal film. However, the music acts and choreography in the dancescenes are very good and it show that the cast has put a lot of workinto it. But this doesn't make up for the bad script or scenes, whichis why you must be desperate to manage to watch the entire film.for more reviews go to: http://malinlystad.blogspot.com

freedumb2003 (08 May 2012)

Not even a shadow of the original

Somewhere, someone took an awful turn and decided that the original"Fame," a seminal work, wasn't good enough and made it into an episodeof "Hannah Montana." But this did confirm that dancing and singing have in fact gotten worsein 30 years. At best, 2009 has nothing new to offer. The final insult is the "we worked so hard" in the 2009 versioncompared to the grandeur of "I sing the body electric." And the"African" drums are just a PC waste of everyone's time. Millennial self-referential claptrap.At best it is a sad shadow of what was before. At worst it is the best the millennials have to offer.

Sandie Angulo Chen (04 May 2012)

Teen musical remake has edgy content for a PG movie.

TxMike (04 May 2012)

Much more enjoyable than the IMDb rating would suggest.

I haven't read what the critics say about this movie, I just noticedthat the IMDb rating is rather low. But taken for what it is, and notcomparing it to the original, this edition of "Fame" is a nicelyentertaining movie.I enjoyed it especially because it portrays the struggles of young menand young women who are talented and want to make their lives in theperformance arts world. It actually helps to view the DVD extra, maybeeven first, where each of the young stars are profiled in a minute ortwo. In viewing that you find that the actors in their real lives arevery similar to the characters in the movie.The story presented here covers almost 4 years, from the youngstersauditioning for admission to the PA high school, through graduation. Itis told mostly linearly, and features the struggles of several of thecharacters.Kay Panabaker, really a teen during shooting, is Jenny Garrison. She istalented but naive, and she has some difficulty fully expressingherself, as a singer and as an actor. Her path is to learn to freeherself.Naturi Naughton is Denise Dupree, a classically trained pianist, ofstrict parents who expert her to pursue a career in classical music.They don't even know she sings, but she has probably the best voice ofall the students we see. Her journey is to find her real voice, and forher parents to accept that.Kherington Payne, also a teen during filming, is Alice Ellerton, whohas been dancing all her life. She and her parents are frank about hergoing to PA, she needs training but as soon as a professionalopportunity comes along, she is gone with it. Also to the dismay of herboyfriend.In a good touch towards realism, real Broadway star Bebe Neuwirth isMs. Kraft, the dance instructor. Debbie Allen, part of the older Famemovie, is Ms. Angela Simms. Charles S. Dutton is teacher Mr. JamesDowd. And in a small role Kelsey Grammar is faculty member Mr. MartinCranston.There are a number of other characters and equally compelling stories.I don't know why anyone who enjoys singing, dancing, theater, thosesorts of things would rate this movie lower than 5 or 6 or 7.

Brett Michel (28 April 2012)

Oh, MGM: I realize you're staving off bankruptcy, but is remaking past hits the answer?

(27 April 2012)

Buying option

I only want to bargain with amzon online, & I want to buy 100% new items.Because I think Amazon online is a trust-worthy shopping site, pls don't trade me with 2nd hand items.

ryan_mccafferty (25 April 2012)

Screenwriter Bit Off More than he/she could Chew

Definitely, a niche movie that only relates to teens already in theperforming arts. To me it felt like the writer crammed 4 seasons ofDegrassi or all 3 High School Musicals into 140 minutes. All in all,there wasn't a sufficient amount of time to flesh out any aspect of themovie. Way too many characters. Dull musical numbers. Bland choreography.Uninteresting AND unnecessary romantic subplots.The movie should have focused more on the professional growth of eachstudent over the course of freshman year by really spotlighting thestudent/teacher dynamic. Instead the movie flaunts the futile personal endeavors of each studentover a four year span at a prestigious academy. So by the end, the highschool backdrop felt completely pointless because the students learnedabsolutely nothing to separate their senior level experience from theoriginal insecurity of their auditions.

Bob Bloom (25 April 2012)

What "Fame" lacks in originality, it makes up for in heart. And that tips the ledger in my book.

Michael A. Smith (23 April 2012)

...shows his talents by presenting each musical number as if it were a separate music video, allowing each song to tell it's own story

Gary Thompson (23 April 2012)

The new Fame has the feel of diluted imitation -- slick, superficial, short on heart.