United Artists| USA | 107 mins
Like so many old classics, it was inevitable that Fame would be picked from the shelf for a moneymaking revamp. Designed to appeal to the High School Musical tweens, director Kevin Tancharoen’s remake is bright and sparkly. But sadly, the inspirational realism, which made its 1980’s predecessor a hit, is missing in this adaptation.
The glamorous sets and modern dance numbers will be the first noticeable difference that will divide fans of the old Fame from the new one. The bustle of the auditions has been amped to epic proportions, with the halls and classrooms of the Performing Arts school filled with student hopefuls. While the pace is fast and viewers will not see many of the auditions in full but this exciting opening is one of the few scenes of the movie which outshines its predecessor.
Allison Burnett’s script stays true to the original plot, following a group of students through their years attending the exclusive New York City High School for the Performing Arts. Endeavoring to turn their interest in dance, music or drama into a professional careers, the students are marred by their quest for fame and fortune.
Tancharoen takes a successful risk (creatively speaking) in casting a group of relatively unknown actors in the main roles. Kay Panabaker (Summerland) as Jenny, a shy actress, is uncomfortable and awkward in all the right places. Her naivety plays well against the ambitious overconfidence of Neil (Paul Iacono) — an aspiring filmmaker without any connections. But if anybody stands to gain from Fame, it will be Naturi Naughton as Denise Dupree. Her powerful rendition of the classical ballad, ‘Out Here On My Own’ eclipsed the musical mash-ups that are systematically placed in the film. Her voice and acting ability will surely grant her some interesting roles in the future.
However, it is to the credit of all of these young unknown actors that viewers are able to engage with their characters at all. Like the first Fame, we are thrown, sometimes unceremoniously, from one character’s predicament to another. Everyone has something important to contribute to the overall message of working hard to make the most of your talent, but with so many characters to focus on, we are left without enough screen time to really connect emotionally to the different predicaments. Tanchoroen’s effort to emphasize the visual aspect of the film rather than the message of the film leaves the audience feeling unfulfilled.
Instead of letting the actors carry the emotionally charged scenes, Tanchoroen uses cheap camera techniques to convey the feeling of ‘being in the room’ with the characters. The oddly amateurish shaky camera that is used throughout the beginning and at various other times throughout the film is enormously distracting. It contrasts so abrasively with the well-choreographed dance numbers makes one wonder whether he was just being spontaneously creative.
Nevertheless, the time that Tanchoroen invests in reinventing the dancing and musical scenes for a modern audience certainly pays off. The graduation scene is flashy and exciting as it pulls together the talents and the lessons learnt by all of the characters throughout the film. How Kay Panabaker’s character learns to sing so well without any previous exposition is definitely a questionable surprise that may throw some curious audience members for a moment.
The Fame of the twenty-first century wants to leave you dazzled but even the exciting dance sequences and impressive performances are not memorable enough to justify this remake.
6 out of 10
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