Mike Massie Gone With The Twins Jul 20, 2024 7/10

A lively, momentous demonstration of craft.

Go to Full Review

James Berardinelli ReelViews May 31, 2024 3/4

Cliched dramatic stories aside, the movie has a gritty charm and overall likeability that makes it worth revisiting for an understanding of how both the genre and society’s perceptions have evolved...

Go to Full Review

Zita Short InSession Film Feb 7, 2023 C-

This is an unbalanced mess at a lot of points and that stops you from fully enjoying its occasional moments of greatness.

Go to Full Review

Maida Tilchen Gay Community News (Boston) Aug 19, 2022

Not only is the singing and dancing in this movie excellent, it is also done in a spontaneous and natural way, giving it a realistic quality much more exciting and inspiring than the staged musical sequences in most movie musicals.

Go to Full Review

Stephen Farber New West/California Nov 3, 2021

With a lot of energy and talent going for it, you can't help wanting to like Fame. Yet the sad truth is that the film falls short of its potential in almost every way.

Go to Full Review

Jesús Fernández Santos El Pais (Spain) Aug 14, 2019

Alan Parker's great virtue is to know how to tell a unique and effective story, without boasting. [Full Review in Spanish]

Go to Full Review

Yardena Arar Associated Press Jul 17, 2019

Numerous performance scenes are expertly woven into Christopher Gore's screenplay following the audition-to-graduation fortunes of a handful of students, and the result is a joyful celebration of youth, hope and talent.

Go to Full Review

Bruce McCabe Boston Globe Apr 28, 2018

Fame isn't only the best musical of the summer, it's one of the best films of any genre -- a fresh and funky, sassy and brassy, gutty and gritty, slick and smart piece of work.

Go to Full Review

Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Apr 21, 2011 B

Director Alan Parker has reinvented effectively the old musical movie genre of let's put on a show in a way that speaks directly to younger viewers

Go to Full Review

Kari Croop Common Sense Media Dec 19, 2010 4/5

Raw look at teen life more shocking than you might recall.

Go to Full Review

Walter Chaw Film Freak Central Sep 28, 2010 2/4

What recommends Fame to whatever degree that it doesn't totally suck is that Parker's still content at this point in his career to not resolve every single storyline

Go to Full Review

Anna Smith Empire Magazine Sep 8, 2010 3/5

The song and dance scenes are hard to beat in terms of sheer energy and atmosphere, but the dramatic storylines leave several loose ends.

Go to Full Review

Richard Schickel TIME Magazine Sep 8, 2010

Every once in a while what appears to be the entire student body pours out into the street to do song-and-dance numbers, some of which are cheerful enough, but all of which break faith with the film's realistic premise.

Go to Full Review

Dave Kehr Chicago Reader Sep 8, 2010

The film is cut at such a frenzied pitch that it's often possible to believe (mistakenly) that something significant is going on.

Go to Full Review

Jason McKiernan Filmcritic.com Oct 26, 2009 4/5

Nearly thirty years after its debut, Alan Parker's Fame remains, in its way, even fresher than its glossy 2009 remake

Go to Full Review

Variety Staff Variety Jun 9, 2008

Alan Parker has come up with an exposure for some of the most talented youngsters seen on screen in years. There isn't a bad performance in the lot.

Go to Full Review

Cole Smithey ColeSmithey.com Apr 6, 2008 4/5

Go to Full Review

Jules Brenner Cinema Signals Jul 29, 2005 5/5

Go to Full Review

Randy Shulman Metro Weekly (Washington, DC) Jul 28, 2005 4/5

Go to Full Review