FAME
RYAN: I’m just gonna say it. “Fame” is easily one of the worst movies of the year.
CAROLINE: Wow! Really?! How can that be?
RYAN: It was just completely disjointed. You don’t even care about the kids, and even though it’s contemporary, it’s totally puritanical.
CAROLINE: Damn. I was really excited to see this, and would have gone with you had I not been out with my folks.
RYAN: I was really excited for it too, especially because I always want musicals to do well; but the high school in this movie is the most prudish in America. The kids wait till junior year to have their first kiss, when in reality, we know they’d be pregnant and dropping out by then.
CAROLINE: [laughs’ OK, that’s ridic, but what about the awesome singing and dancing numbers we were so psyched for?
RYAN: There was one great dance number that is the best scene in the movie. But aside from that, it’s completely lackluster, unemotional and uninspired. The plot doesn’t spend enough time with any one kid or story line for you to get properly invested. Ultimately, it’s just boring.
CAROLINE: I am so surprised. What about Kherington, who we love from “So You Think You Can Dance”?
RYAN: She’s a great dancer of course, but she only has four lines; and just from those, you can tell she can’t act.
CAROLINE: What about the teacher folk?
RYAN: OMG – Megan Mullally plays a singing teacher and in one scene she’s coaxed by the kids to sing, and we were literally laughing at how bad she was. But the kids in the movie are amazed by how great she is. I was like, “Are we hearing the same voice?” It’s totally bizarre.
CAROLINE: What about Debbie Allen? She was in the original, of course.
RYAN: It’s great to see her in this, but it’s a thankless role. And Kelsey Grammer and Bebe Neuwirth are barely in it. Bebe was the best of the bunch though.
CAROLINE: So did it confirm my fear that it’s not actually a remake of “Fame,” but just another “High School Musical”-esque movie with bunch of hot kids dancing around?
RYAN: Let’s just say I liked “High School Musical 3” better than this. The biggest travesty of all is that you spend the whole movie waiting to hear their remake of the “Fame” theme song, and you finally get it… during the credits!
CAROLINE: Wait, it’s not a part of the film?!
RYAN: No. It was playing over the damn credits. Unreal.
— BOTTOM LINE —
RYAN: This movie is a missed opportunity. Barely any of the songs and scenes from the original are revisited. It’s not worth your time.
— RATING —
