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Movies / On DVD / Fame
Fame

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Fame (1980)

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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]

Reviews for Fame

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1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
05/24/03
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
04/17/01
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

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Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
06/09/08
Variety
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/15/05
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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: Film Threat | comment 1 Comment
10/23/09
Elias Savada
Elias Savada
Film Threat

No review available.

comment 1 Comment
06/04/04
Sarah Chauncey
Sarah Chauncey
Reel.com

No review available.

comment Comment
08/22/03
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

No review available.

comment Comment
04/06/08
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

No review available.

comment Comment
01/31/04
Dan Jardine
Dan Jardine
Apollo Guide

No review available.

comment Comment
07/02/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

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

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
06/07/03
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

No review available.

comment Comment
12/05/03
James Hill
James Hill
BET.com

One of the finest dramas ever about teen life

comment Comment
01/09/03
James Sanford
James Sanford
Kalamazoo Gazette

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

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
10/26/09
Jason McKiernan
Jason McKiernan
Filmcritic.com

No review available.

comment Comment
10/17/02
Jeffrey Westhoff
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

No review available.

comment Comment
07/29/05
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

Not always believable, but energetic and enjoyable.

comment Comment
11/05/02
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Infectious and moving and sometimes bittersweet.

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
09/06/03
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher

No review available.

comment Comment
10/25/02
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
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...

See All

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