Fame (1980)
Average Rating: 7/10
Reviews Counted: 30
Fresh: 24 | Rotten: 6
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 8.8/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 3
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 40,013
My Rating
Movie Info
Fame is set at New York's High School of Performing Arts, where talented teens train for show-business careers. The film concentrates on five of the most gifted students: singer Irene Cara, actors Paul McCrane and Barry Miller, dancer Gene Anthony Ray, and musician Lee Currieri. More so than the subsequent TV series Fame, the film emphasizes the importance of keeping up one's academic achievements in this specialized school. The faculty includes no-nonsense English teacher Ann Meara, erudite
May 16, 1980 Wide
Jun 1, 2004
WARNER BROTHERS PICTURES
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Cast
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Irene Cara
Coco Hernandez -
Paul McCrane
Montgomery MacNeil -
Barry Miller
Raul/Ralph Garcia -
Gene Anthony Ray
Leroy Johnson -
Lee Curreri
Bruno Martelli -
Anne Meara
Mrs. Sherwood -
Debbie Allen
Lydia -
Eddie Barth
Angelo -
Albert Hague
Shorofsky -
Boyd Gaines
Michael -
Joanna Merlin
Miss Berg -
Laura Dean
Liza Monroe -
Jim Moody
Mr. Farrell -
Antonia Franceschi
Hilary -
Steve Inwood
Francois Lafete -
Teresa Hughes
Mrs. Finsecker -
Richard Belzer
Conferencier -
Michael De Lorenzo
Dancer -
Laura Delano
Dancer -
Aaron Dugger
Dancer -
-
Nancy Lee
Asian Student -
James Manis
Bruno's Uncle -
Isaac Mizrahi
Touchstone -
Alba Oms
Ralph's Mother -
Maureen Teefy
Doris Finsecker -
Meg Tilly
Dancer -
Anthony Evans
Musician -
Louis Venosta
Dancer -
Ray Ramirez
Pater Morales -
-
Nancy Gianzero
Nancie -
Frank Bongiorno
Truck driver -
-
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Fame Trailer & Photos
All Critics (30) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (26) | Rotten (6) | DVD (16)
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.
The film is cut at such a frenzied pitch that it's often possible to believe (mistakenly) that something significant is going on.
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.
It's a crack at the American Dream which carries all the exhilaration and depth of a 133-minute commercial break.
Top CriticA genuine treasure, moving and entertaining.
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
Raw look at teen life more shocking than you might recall.
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
The song and dance scenes are hard to beat in terms of sheer energy and atmosphere, but the dramatic storylines leave several loose ends.
Nearly thirty years after its debut, Alan Parker's Fame remains, in its way, even fresher than its glossy 2009 remake
Sadly, everything is predictable, which is to the detriment of the mostly fine, young talent that appears in this ineffective retread. I hope that their fame, unlike this film, isn't fleeting.
As Fame begins to unspool and you realize that the movie's a lot more endearingly grimy and profane than you recall...just blame it on that stupid TV knockoff.
Audience Reviews for Fame
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Latest News on Fame
April 3, 2009:
Trailer Bulletin: FameThey can sing and dance, but can they make you remember their names, thereby living forever? Watch...
February 20, 2009:
Meet the Cast of the Fame RemakeCurious about the upcoming "Fame" remake? Satisfy your curiosity with new interviews with the cast...
December 1, 2008:
Five Fame Faculty AddedMegan Mullally, Kelsey Grammer, Charles S. Dutton, Bebe Neuwirth and Debbie Allen have joined the...
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Recognizing all its flaws, I unabashedly love Fame. I understand that the characters fall into stereotypes, and I think many of their stories never reach a cathartic or dramatic conclusion; this is especially true of Ralph and Leroy. Also, these are oh-so-clearly adults playing teens; it even seems written that way most of the time. However, Fame achieves a complexity found in few films and almost no musicals. How is it that - for me - this film worked as both a cautionary tale and an inspiration? How is it that I recognized so many people from the acting world in these loosely drawn characters?
Parker's direction and the rather spontaneous musical numbers embody the passion, ambition, dedication, triumphs, disappointments, and blindnesses that afflict these people. More to the point, I've known some artists whose talent amazed me, but yet you don't know them. You know talentless hacks, many of whom can't act dead. Each of these people recognizes that what most likely awaits them is a boulevard of broken dreams, spoiled ambitions, and a life counting their tips, hoping enough is there for rent, but each is also driven by an indomitable spirit. Fame's achievement is capturing all that on film, even to some degree into one fantastic scene toward the end (Irene Cara's nude scene - you'll know what I mean if you see the film).
Additionally, I enjoyed the peripherals: the stage mother, the broken home, the absent but financially generous parents. All of these exist in varying forms.
Overall, it takes some effort to see past this film's flaws, but once you do, you won't be disappointed with what lies at its core.