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Movies / On DVD / Fame
Fame

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Fame (1980)

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90 %
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Reviews Counted:21

Fresh:19

Rotten:2

Average Rating:7/10

Runtime: 2 hrs 15 mins

Genre: Musical & Performing Arts

Synopsis: In Alan Parker's FAME, teenagers selected for New York City's High School for the Performing Arts push their talents to the limit to make it big in show business. This episodic tale follows savvy... In Alan Parker's FAME, teenagers selected for New York City's High School for the Performing Arts push their talents to the limit to make it big in show business. This episodic tale follows savvy Coco (Irene Cara), timid Doris (Maureen Teefy), gay Montgomery (Paul McCrane), macho Raul (Barry Miller), soulful Bruno (Lee Curreri), and others as they struggle to achieve their dreams of stardom while coping with the universal teenage problems of loneliness, insecurity, and embattled, mercurial identity. Cara, electric as the budding songstress Coco, shines brightest in the infectiously exuberant young cast. The film, which won Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song, overflows at each corner of its loosely unfolding narrative with inspired music and dance numbers that seem to burst forth spontaneously out of sheer irrepressible emotion. With FAME (later developed into a hit television series), Parker finds a happy medium between the wildly diverging tones of his previous two features, the goofy kids-as-gangsters musical BUGSY MALONE and the harrowing prison thriller MIDNIGHT EXPRESS, and in doing so creates an enjoyable, glittering portrait of guileless teenage ambition. [More]

Starring: Eddie Barth, Irene Cara, Lee Curreri, Billy Hufsey

Starring: Eddie Barth, Irene Cara, Lee Curreri, Billy Hufsey, Barry Miller, Paul McCrane, Maureen Teefy, Richard Belzer, Meg Tilly, Laura Dean

Director: Alan Parker

Director: Alan Parker
Screenwriter: Christopher Gore
Producer: Alan Marshall
Composer: Michael Gore

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Jun 3, 2003

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Fame

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Reviews
Tomatometer Critic Review Category
tomato
4/5

Jason McKiernan

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

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Oct., 26 2009 11:50 AM

Filmcritic.com

splat
1/5

Elias Savada

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.

Full Review Source: | comment 2 Comments | Oct., 23 2009 08:26 AM

Film Threat

N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jun., 09 2008 03:15 AM

Variety

tomato
4/5

Cole Smithey

No review available.

comment Comment | Apr., 06 2008 10:15 AM

ColeSmithey.com

N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jan., 26 2006 03:16 AM

Time Out

tomato
5/5

Jules Brenner

No review available.

comment Comment | Jul., 29 2005 03:54 PM

Cinema Signals

tomato
4/5

Randy Shulman

No review available.

comment Comment | Jul., 28 2005 05:44 AM

Metro Weekly (Washington, DC)

tomato
3/5

Emanuel Levy

No review available.

comment Comment | Jul., 02 2005 05:24 AM

EmanuelLevy.Com

N/R

Janet Maslin

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jan., 15 2005 10:48 PM

New York Times

tomato
3.5/4

Roger Ebert

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Oct., 23 2004 10:44 PM

Chicago Sun-Times

splat
2/5

Sarah Chauncey

No review available.

comment 1 Comment | Jun., 04 2004 07:34 AM

Reel.com

tomato
3/5

Ryan Cracknell

No review available.

comment Comment | Apr., 30 2004 10:56 PM

Movie Views

tomato
4/5

Scott Weinberg

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.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Apr., 11 2004 08:20 PM

eFilmCritic.com

tomato
3/5

Dan Jardine

No review available.

comment Comment | Jan., 31 2004 09:05 PM

Apollo Guide

tomato
4/5

James Hill

No review available.

comment Comment | Dec., 05 2003 09:57 AM

BET.com

tomato

MaryAnn Johanson

Infectious and moving and sometimes bittersweet.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Sep., 06 2003 11:05 PM

Flick Filosopher

tomato
3/5

Carol Cling

No review available.

comment Comment | Aug., 22 2003 01:48 PM

Las Vegas Review-Journal

tomato

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

A rambling, emotionally involving, and exuberent movie with flashes of cinematic poetry.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jun., 07 2003 04:35 PM

Spirituality and Practice

N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | May., 24 2003 08:08 AM

Channel 4 Film

tomato
5/5

James Sanford

One of the finest dramas ever about teen life

comment Comment | Jan., 09 2003 05:24 PM

Kalamazoo Gazette

 
 
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all

Latest News for Fame

April 03, 2009: Trailer Bulletin: Fame Opens in new window
They can sing and dance, but can they make you remember their names, thereby living forever? Watch the first trailer for MGM's "Fame" reboot and see what you think. More...

February 20, 2009: Meet the Cast of the Fame Remake Opens in new window
Curious about the upcoming "Fame" remake? Satisfy your curiosity with new interviews with the cast and behind-the-scenes footage. More...

December 01, 2008: Five Fame Faculty Added Opens in new window
Megan Mullally, Kelsey Grammer, Charles S. Dutton, Bebe Neuwirth and Debbie Allen have joined the cast of "Fame." More...

October 10, 2008: Fame Remake Rounds Out Cast Opens in new window
MGM has decided who's gonna live forever: Kristy Flores, Paul Iacono, Paul McGill, Naturi Naughton, Kay Panabaker, Kherington Payne, Collins Pennie, Walter Perez and Anna Maria... More...

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