“Is it any wonder I reject you first?”
The above lyric from David Bowie’s “Fame” accurately conveys my sentiments towards the new “Fame” film. Just as one ballet dancer gets told, I can’t write it a recommendation because it just isn’t good enough.
Released in 1980, the original “Fame” was nominated for six Oscars and won two. The cast, including Debbie Allen and Irene Cara, have largely gone on achieve acclaim in their respective careers.
This remake isn’t headed anywhere except for weekend loops on Oxygen in three years.
The plot (if you can call it that) strings together various students’ experiences during their four years attending Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts (referred to as PA). Jenny (Kay Panabaker) pursues acting, but is plagued with self-doubt and has trouble loosening up. Denise (Naturi Naughton) enters as a classical pianist, but discovers a conflicting passion for singing and hip-hop.
I’d mention more character arcs here, but those are the only ones I can remember. Aside from Panabaker and Naughton’s characters, only a scant minimum of time is devoted to fleshing out characterizations. We don’t get to see their motivations, desires or fears. So instead of relating to characters by name and identifiers, we’re stuck with thinking of them as “dancer chick” and “producer boy.”
The film dutifully trots out all required showbiz tropes, both bad and good. Booking the big gig and dropping out of school for the dream job share space with financing problems and hearing that you’ll never make it professionally. Even the ol’ casting couch cliché turns up. But this being the 21st century, a camera looms sinisterly nearby.
(If you’ve ever seen any arts movie where the performer must choose between working hard and selling herself, you can easily guess the outcome and natural fallout.)
Ordinarily, I’m a fan of movies about school kids pursuing artsy dreams (probably because I did so for a couple of summers in high school). But this one seemed so by-the-numbers, and the plots and characters were virtually interchangeable. Just as a dancer needs to distinguish herself during an audition to land the part, this movie tries valiantly but ultimately fails.
Nineteen years later, I don’t think anyone will remember this “Fame” ‘s name.
