'Fame' Review: 1.5/5
The general moral that the 'Fame' story seems to posit is that, whether or not diligence grants individually desired results, it is in our best nature to keep going - to move on, to "live forever." In this contemporary reboot of an already popular musical, director Kevin Tancharoen insists that the spectator accept the deliberate lack of story in substitute for disorienting dance sequences, cut together with a ferocious intensity that would have 'Transformers' director Michael Bay inquiring: "What the hell is going on?" The film plays out like an overwrought music-video montage, featuring shallow, stereotypical characters with no depth or genuine insight. But to Tancharoen, that's not the point. Character and story serve merely as a combined backdrop for the wildly choreographed dance numbers, assembling an overly-urbanized atmosphere that deprives 'Fame' of its most profound messages.
The film, which follows several students attending the New York City High School for the Performing Arts - their areas of focus all blatantly complimenting their racial and class status: the Black and Hispanic guys produce Hip-Hop, the goofy Jewish kid writes screenplays, the evidently gay male is a ballet dancer, etc. Why couldn't the Black guy be a ballet dancer? Why couldn't a gay male produce Hip-Hop? I suppose these are unfair questions considering the film prides itself on adherence to formula - the most diluted of formulas, but formula nonetheless.
I don't need to describe where this film is going. If you haven't seen 'Fame' in any medium, just watch the trailer. No surprises here. No attention to story either, which is unfortunate seeing that the drama carries with it such culturally relevant themes of persistence and hope (great themes for a film in a time of recession). That said, it's a bit frightening that 'Fame,' whose audience is clearly the vulnerable child-demographic, contends that the world in urban areas is brimming with cultural stereotypes. And given the continual box-office success of films in this same genre (Step-Up, Stomp the Yard, Take the Lead), these stereotypes are destined to live forever.
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