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Fame

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Fame reviews
39
4.0 User Score:

Generally unfavorable reviews

Based on 26 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 14 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama  |  Musical

Written by: Allison Burnett

Directed by: Kevin Tancharoen

Release Date:
Theatrical: September 25, 2009

Running Time: minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: PG for thematic material including teen drinking, a sexual situation and language

Starring Asher Book, Kristy Flores, Paul Iacono, Debbie Allen, Charles S. Dutton, Kelsey Grammer, Megan Mullally, and Bebe Neuwirth

Fame follows a talented group of dancers, singers, actors, and artists over four years at the New York City High School of Performing Arts, a diverse, creative powerhouse where students from all walks of life are given a chance to live out their dreams and achieve real and lasting fame...the kind that comes only from talent, dedication, and hard work. (MGM)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

75

The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson

A film that’s largely a raw, uplifting love letter to creativity in every possible form.

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75

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Much of the movie has a structureless, documentary feeling to it, which is good and should have been pushed further.

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63

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Since I sort of liked “Step Up 2: The Streets,” I’m not surprised I sort of liked the remake of Fame.

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60

New York Daily News Joe Neumaier

Whether the young ensemble attains it remains to be seen. The standouts, though, are Naughton, Pennie and Perez De Tagle.

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60

Time Out New York Keith Uhlich

It helps that Fame has been cast with performers who have the glow of possibility about them.

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50

The New York Times Andy Webster

While the movie suffers from a surfeit of flash, it nonetheless offers the undeniable power of young performers pursuing art at peak dexterity.

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50

Village Voice Melissa Anderson

The sanitized moppets in the new Fame sing the body generic.

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50

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

So little time is devoted to developing characters that it's hard to share their hopes and fears.

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50

ReelViews James Berardinelli

A cheesy production with underdeveloped characters that feels more like a TV pilot than a self-contained motion picture.

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50

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A sad reflection of the new Hollywood, where material is sanitized and dumbed down for a hypothetical teen market that is way too sophisticated for it. It plays like a dinner theater version of the original.

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50

The Hollywood Reporter Stephen Farber

It's almost laughably bland and watered-down in its desire to appeal to the widest possible audience. It won't succeed in that goal, but it has enough pizzazz to captivate undemanding tweeners.

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50

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole

Perhaps the young performers are in such a good mood because they're liberated from having to play straight-as-a-ruler teen melodrama.

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50

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

The teachers (including original cast member Debbie Allen as school principal) turn out to be the best part of the show.

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50

USA Today Claudia Puig

Fame offers slick entertainment with some exuberance, but it's devoid of soul or heart.

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50

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

It’s not a good sign when the first few minutes of a movie about singing, dancing, rapping, video-camera-wielding teenagers reminds you of a certain grimy horror franchise.

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50

Washington Post Dan Zak

This new Fame, whitewashed for the kids, leaps into a catchy rhythm at the start.

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40

Variety Brian Lowry

This PG-rated offering thus dances along a fine line -- one that suggests a shelf-life well short of its "I wanna live forever" anthem.

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40

Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones

The opening montage is a jazzy, grabby thing, artfully layering the kids’ auditions to mimic the frenzied pace of the day. But that freneticism never really goes away, nor does the staccato timing.

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38

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Joe Williams

Offers about as much flava as a Dr. Pepper commercial and about as much drama as a “Sesame Street” rerun.

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30

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

The high school is so sanitized that there are no drugs, cutthroat competition, or--inconceivably for a theatrical milieu--no gay students.

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30

Los Angeles Times Betsy Sharkey

Someone has driven a stake through the heart and ripped out the soul of the 1980 original. The responsible parties, make that irresponsible parties, should be found, thrown in movie jail and not allowed within 50 feet of a set again. Ever.

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25

New York Post Lou Lumenick

The cowardly producers have banished the grit and darkness of Parker’s original.

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25

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

The new Fame is practically identical to Alan Parker's 1980 original -- I mean, it's the same damn movie -- except for all the parts with heart and humor and poignancy and soul and fun.

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20

Film Threat Elias Savada

Sadly, everything is predictable, which is to the detriment of the mostly fine, young talent that appears in this ineffective retread.

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15

NPR Jeannette Catsoulis

My advice to potential audiences: Find something else to do.

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0

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Fame has today's usual gritty form of slick to it, but in every other way it's an Amateur Hour and a half.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 4.0 (out of 10) based on 14 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

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