I moved Fame to the top of my Netflix queue in preparation for my sophomore directorial effort at a local high school. Watching this film, which I may have seen before but can't quite remember (maybe I'm thinking of the television show...), was research, though mainly for character foundation and basic story arc and not much else. The musical and the film are quite a bit different, but the basic themes and threads, especially using the trials and tribulations of learning to be a performer as a parallel for growing up and maturation, are there.
Going into it, I wasn't watching it with any kind of real interest in it because of my empirical, background-research-type approach. I wasn't watching with my critics' eye, and I wasn't even looking to be entertained. I felt I should write a quick review, though, in case this was the first time I watched it and in case I decide to watch it again.
Fame is basically a movie lacking any truly cohesive plot. The film follows several kids who audition for entry into New York's famed (rim shot) High School of Performing Arts with various ambitions, degrees of talent, checkered pasts, uncertain futures, and cultural backgrounds. The most recognizable face belonged to a young Paul McCrane (ER, 24), playing Montgomery McNeil, the offspring of a professional actor toying with both his professional and genetic identity as well as his sexual identity. Doris is the shy, parentally-repressed violet looking to assert herself. Coco (Irene Cara, who made the title song a pop sensation back in those 80's type days) is a songwriter with depth beyond her pretty, ethnically blended face. Leroy wants to dance, despite his street upbringing and inability to read. Bruno is the consummate musician with talent for instrumentation but bent on the emerging new wave of synthesizers. Ralph Garcy aka Raul Garcia is a budding comedian styling himself after Freddie Prinze (that's senior, kiddies) while simultaneously trying to bury his Puerto Rican ancestry. The singing and dancing is punctuated by more singing and dancing and so on and so forth, except for the occasional scenes where dialogue and angst fill the screen.
I have no strong feelings about the picture. For the year it was released, 1980, it was a stunning portrait of mostly harmonious multiculturalism while, at the same time, giving the viewer a gritty glimpse of those plagued by misfortune and their drive to overcome. Therefore, it's meant to be an inspirational film, but I think the stage format suits the subject better, even if the film predated musical, TV show, and solid gold stardom. The songs are reminiscient of the time, as is the fashion. No actor stood out because they were mainly an ensemble of B actors wanting to live forever and wanting to learn how to fly themselves. It doesn't quite fit the traditional definition of musical, as most of the song-and-dance numbers do not really propel the plot forward, but the songs are catchy enough and are sung with feeling by the actors, particularly Irene Cara.
I didn't love it. I didn't hate it. It reminds me of childhood a bit. I think I watched the TV show, which aired when I was a child of mere 4 or 5. I don't think it was a cinematic masterpiece, but it has its place, artistically and as it relates to its entertainment value. To tell you the truth, I was mostly kind of bored, except when following Montgomery's or Leroy's stories, at which point I developed interest and sympathy for those characters. I think that's more a credit to the story, though, than to the performances or any technical aspect of the film.
I don't think this film is for everyone, but it's an ok bit of nostalgia if you go in for that sort of thing. I think I would have to rate this movie a "6" for cute but mediocre, only because it is what it is (and it wasn't the first, and it won't be the last). It was good research for my show, but nothing that passes my test or piques my interest for repeat viewings. Though, a remake is being released this year (in a timely fashion). I guess Fame really is gonna live forever.