Fame

Audience Reviews

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Draco S Mar 14, 2019 Still around to entertain after all these years. Still realistic and gritty, based in the dreams of young people starting out their lives. This is the first realistic musical and the musical score transcends all of them. Thank god there is no rapping by Professor Henry Higgins in this one. You can't expect much more than the beauty of "Out Here on My Own" and the rousing title number "Fame". See more

Rey S Feb 4, 2019 Realistic,gritty, great.

Feb 1, 2019 The best inspiring musical movie ever made! With the best movie song ever sung: the title song!

George R Nov 11, 2018 The movie is way too overstuffed to be an effective examination of these kids (on top of covering four years, the movie has so many characters you barely get a chance to learn all their names) and whenever the movie tries to be realistic in one scene it often swings wildly to an after-school special plot in the next. Also, I know this came out in 1980 but I refuse to believe that at this school there would only be one gay kid. See more

Anakin M Oct 12, 2018 I love so many aspects of this film that I'm surprised it doesn't have a higher average rating. From its very beginning, with a brilliant audition sequence that has director Alan Parker switching between a number of characters and scenes, the film had me. Soon afterwards he hits it with the first of the musical numbers, an impromptu song and dance that breaks out in the lunch room, which captures the power of creative people feeding off one another. How that leads to the quieter girl (Maureen Teefy) escaping the noise to sit with a sensitive young man (Paul McCrane) and start up a friendship is also very nice. 'Fame' was ahead of its time in giving us a diverse cast, and that's in a lot of ways - race, language, body shape, sexual orientation, and economic background. It really captures the spirit of New York, and this is heightened by shots on the streets and in the subway. There are so many items it touches on - homophobia, abuse, violence, sexual harassment, and abortion. It celebrates the beauty of the arts, while at the same time cautioning just how difficult it is to make a career out of them. Its spirit is infectious, and it's filled with poignant moments. Parker effectively uses an ensemble cast, each of whom contributes, but Barry Miller stands out as Ralph Garci, with a number of fine scenes: his impromptu acting during the audition ("I'm God, see?"), his recounting the pain of finding out Freddie Prinze had died, his telling his friends the real truth about his father, his lashing out a priest after his 5-year-old sister is assaulted ("Since when are you in the thinking business?"), and in bombing at a standup comedy club. It's a brilliant, powerful performance. Irene Cara sings on a number of the tracks, including the wonderful title song, and also provides a heartbreaking moment when she's lured into posing topless in the apartment of a man posing as an indie film director. There are so many dangers that surround these kids, and the honesty of this predatory scene is a forerunner to the #metoo movement. It's too bad it's offset somewhat by Parker himself giving us two immature voyeuristic scenes of the boys peering into the girls changing room. McCrane's descriptions of his growing sexual awareness, and the reaction he relates from his therapist ("He said it was probably a life choice"), is also touching. I liked the simple earnestness with which he portrayed this character, and his scene consoling Ralph Garci at the end (where Garci says "How do you know if you're good? Maybe you never know"). Without going through the rest of the big cast, I'll just add that I loved Jim Moody as the drama teacher, and wished his role hadn't tailed off after the sophomore year. That is one of the film's weaknesses - stories are unfinished and characters either disappear or certainly aren't all wrapped up with a big bow as in other movies - but this is also a strength in some ways. It gives the film the sense of how memories from the past are, and the ambiguity leaves it to us to imagine how the characters' lives played out. I think of 'Fame' as a collection of great moments, highlighting the arts, the human spirit, and growing up in a tough world which has so much danger and disappointment. Heartfelt and captivating, it's a great film. See more

Hagrid W Sep 7, 2017 I watched the remake of this movie yesterday on a Netflix whim and it was completely dire, so I wanted to watch this to see if it was better, being the original. It's definitely much better, easier to connect with the characters and better paced too. I did have a similar criticism with this movie as it's remake - I had no clue what the cast would be doing after graduation, I felt like an extra 5 years later scene would have been great. See more

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Fame

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