Fame 2009 Review

After much anticipation I took my daughter to see the new fame and all I came away with was, "Eh, could've been better." My daughter, having never seen the original or the televised series, thought the show was good.

I, not comparing it to the previous versions, felt the movie fell flat. The storyline lacked substance. Sure we got an overall feel for the characters but they didn't draw us into their lives. We felt no emotion, one way or another--not even when one of the main characters told the story of how his little sister died, or when a young girl was taken advantage of by her older peer, or when one student nearly committed suicide when told he would never have a career as a ballet dancer.

Now, comparing it to the previous versions, again the film fell flat. We weren't drawn into the reason these children wanted to attend the school so badly, or how difficult it was to be a full time student and full time performing arts student, or how the teachers just didn't have charisma. There was no passion, no life.

Finally, I was so disappointed that the original FAME song didn't start, nor end the movie. And, I expected great choreography and song and dance numbers and what we got were okay numbers with limited showing.

And having been a remake, in a time when musical numbers are making a comeback, I expected it to be more of a musical and less of a drama. I expected a "wow" factor and sorry, it just didn't deliver.

If you want to see the movie, FAME, I encourage to stick to the 1980 version shown below:



Disclosure: I purchased the t.v. series and received free tickets in the packages to review this film. This is "my opinion" of the product. I was not paid to give a positive review.