LogFAQs > #933329126

21. Fame

Inviso: 4
JONA: 10
KBM: 15
Johnbobb: 19
Genny: 27
Scarlet: 27
Karo: 34

Inviso - After a string of weird-ass musicals from the seventies, I didnt go into Fame with high expectations. After all, 1980 is only one year removed from the seventies. But then I actually watched the movie, and it managed to tick all the boxes of stuff I like. The film centers around a handful of students, all trying to make their way in a prestigious performing arts high school, and it tracks their progress from initial auditions, all the way through their senior year, in a series of vignettes. We get to, in essence, watch these kids grow up and deal with the pressures of being put onto a high pedestal early on in life. Youve got relationship drama with Doris and Ralph (and Monty), youve got the unexpected bond between Leroy and his English teacher, youve got overachiever Coco crashing down to Earth, and all of this is amazingly well-told. I never felt bored while watching this film, and thats impressive for something as long as Fame was. Extremely good film overall.

JONA - A really neat slice-of-life movie that follows a bunch of characters. All their conflicts are intriguing and help show their struggles when it comes to following their dreams and seeing what the future will hold for them. The movie does a great job when it comes to providing the setting. It makes the high school and the future seem so intimidating. The songs are great, and I actually like how theres not that many of them.
Favorite Song: Fame

KBM - Why I Chose It: Fame was the brainchild of Hollywood producer David De Silva, who was partially inspired by the musical A Chorus Line, in which New York's High School of Performing Arts is mentioned. De Silva commissioned playwright Christopher Gore and director Alan Parker to help make the film (the latter, then best known for his film Bugsy Malone, would go on to direct the movie adaptation of Evita). Filming was plagued with various troubles: among them, there were union concerns over (among other things) foreign crew members working without permits, the High School of Performing Arts disallowed filming access in their building due to concerns with the sexual and drug-related content of the script, and the NYPD demanded the cast and crew cut the filming of the title number short due to complaints about traffic blockages. Despite the production's many issues, and the initially mixed reviews (which became more favorable over time), Fame went on to be nominated for six Academy Awards, with Michael Gore winning Best Original Score and Best Original Song for the title number. It was also a commercial success, and spawned multiple TV series, a stage musical in 1988, and a remake in 2009.

My Thoughts: Fame is certainly a bit long, and a bit unfocused from a narrative perspective (leaving a lot of plot threads unresolved by the end), but for the most part, I found this to be a pretty endearing movie. The slice-of-life approach doesn't always work to the film's advantage, but for the most part it does, allowing the audience not to expect everything to be wrapped up in a neat little bow by the end, and instead just showing us the stories of several different characters from a single graduating class across their four years at the High School of Performing Arts. A lot of the characters are extremely likeable, and as someone who pursued an education and career in performing arts myself, I found many of the character arcs quite relatable, whether from my own personal experience or from friends and acquaintances. The Michael Gore soundtrack and songs kick ass (as Michael Gore's work usually does), and even if there are a few things about the film that are dated in a very 80s way I'm thinking especially of the peeping Toms scenes that it seems are supposed to be endearing but are actually super creepy for the most part, this is a story that holds up in a more-or-less timeless way. The fact that it doesn't shy away from profanity, sex, and drug use as being a part of coming of age also works to the story's advantage, as the more serious storylines end up being the most compelling parts of the film outside of the musical numbers (which are sparse, but quite impactful when they occur). So this one gets a mixed, but mostly positive review from me.

Favorite Song: Fame

Johnbobb - I enjoyed Fame while watching it, but thinking back, there were a lot of things that rubbed me the wrong way. The suicide fakeout, Coco's sexual abuse getting kind of glossed over at the end, really all of the plots just kinda getting forced into happy endings that didn't really feel earned. In particular, Ralph stood out as a pretty bad character, kind of being all over the place through most of the film but then going full intolerable toward the end, when after doing a single comedy act for his friends, it immediately goes to his head and he becomes a complete jackass.
Favorite song: Hot Lunch Jam

Genny - Fame follows the lives of... far too many performance art students to possibly care about. There's three main ones yes, and like ten other side stories. I would've appreciated it more if the focus was really narrowed to just Doris, Ralph, and Montgomery despite fantastic performances from Coco and the other supporting castmembers.

Scarlet - I want to live forever. And, sitting through Fame, it feels like I am.
Best Song: Flashdance

Karo - So hey there's these kids who go to artsy talent high school and a great lot of stupidity was had.
We've got like five different storylines featuring various unlikable characters, half of the time it is like some shitty nickelodeon tv show, and the other half is like someone spliced together unused footage from America's Got Talent and tried to call it a movie.
The atrocious writing sees many of the introduced plot points not given a proper conclusion, and some are just straight up forgotten completely because lol.
It all boils down to being a mindless exercise in sequential chaos that has too many characters and too little narrative, and no idea what the hell is the point.

Score: 24/100

Best Song: 'Fame'