#1
Posted: 9/26/09 at 5:38pm
I really went in to this film today expecting a hokey, watered down version of what I consider to be one of the greatest "show business" movies ever made. I walked out very confused as to what I had just seen. It wasn't a bad movie. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a good movie, either. It fell somewhere in between in a world where it had a lot of promise but chose the safe, family friendly way out most of the times.
Fame 2009 follows the original only in a very few ways, from audition day to Freshman - Senior year. These segments feel entirely too short and really, not a lot happens in each one. There are no characters from the original film being retold here. Some are combinations of different people and some are brand new (which is good, I suppose) except that you don't really care much about them. They're not given much opportunity to really develop a character outside of "I want to be a director" or "I actually want to be a singer". Ok, now that we know that, why should we care if you DO become a singer? Or if you become an actor? It's a shame that the lead girls biggest problem in the movie is whether or not she can get back together with her boyfriend. I know they tried to give them stories outside of the school and pursuing their dreams but most of these characters don't even get the chance to show why they're in the school in the first place.
I've read a lot about this movie and about how there are no gay characters in it, which I guess helped get it it's PG rating (sad but true) but we were thrown one little bone at the end when a character gives us a "gay gasp" to let us know that yes, even though things aren't going his way, he's still going to be fabulous.
Besides that, a few things just don't make sense to me. *minor spoiler* How did the girl who majored in piano get the lead vocals at the end of the years concert? How did the dancer who was told he wasn't going to make it get to stand front and center at that concert? For a movie that tried to be realistic, in a few too many ways, it feel far from it. I hate to compare this to the original, but when that ended, you felt a sense of hope for these kids. You knew what a long road they had ahead of them and that they weren't all going to make it but you thought "This is possible, even for me". I remember having that feeling for myself when I first saw it. I saw it for the first time when I realized I wanted to be an actor. It scared me. But it also excited me. There was electricity in it and I knew that if I worked hard enough (something I'm doing still) I can achieve what I want.
When the film today ended, I felt nothing for them. It's a shame they chose to go the safe route with this. It's a great story that given the chance should have been retold correctly. But that's just my opinion.
Fame 2009 follows the original only in a very few ways, from audition day to Freshman - Senior year. These segments feel entirely too short and really, not a lot happens in each one. There are no characters from the original film being retold here. Some are combinations of different people and some are brand new (which is good, I suppose) except that you don't really care much about them. They're not given much opportunity to really develop a character outside of "I want to be a director" or "I actually want to be a singer". Ok, now that we know that, why should we care if you DO become a singer? Or if you become an actor? It's a shame that the lead girls biggest problem in the movie is whether or not she can get back together with her boyfriend. I know they tried to give them stories outside of the school and pursuing their dreams but most of these characters don't even get the chance to show why they're in the school in the first place.
I've read a lot about this movie and about how there are no gay characters in it, which I guess helped get it it's PG rating (sad but true) but we were thrown one little bone at the end when a character gives us a "gay gasp" to let us know that yes, even though things aren't going his way, he's still going to be fabulous.
Besides that, a few things just don't make sense to me. *minor spoiler* How did the girl who majored in piano get the lead vocals at the end of the years concert? How did the dancer who was told he wasn't going to make it get to stand front and center at that concert? For a movie that tried to be realistic, in a few too many ways, it feel far from it. I hate to compare this to the original, but when that ended, you felt a sense of hope for these kids. You knew what a long road they had ahead of them and that they weren't all going to make it but you thought "This is possible, even for me". I remember having that feeling for myself when I first saw it. I saw it for the first time when I realized I wanted to be an actor. It scared me. But it also excited me. There was electricity in it and I knew that if I worked hard enough (something I'm doing still) I can achieve what I want.
When the film today ended, I felt nothing for them. It's a shame they chose to go the safe route with this. It's a great story that given the chance should have been retold correctly. But that's just my opinion.
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