Fame (Reviewed by Sebastian Ng)

Weird: Fame isn't actually a musical. Not exactly, anyway. To begin with, there is none of the contrived song-and-dance sequences that some people I know hate about musicals; characters don't lurch into a musical sequence to express their emotions in an exaggerated manner.

There are a couple of instances where characters sing -- because it is a class assignment, or they're practicing by themselves. There are mass dance sequences: once in the cafeteria, when a student releases some funky music from his boom box, and another during a prom night sort of thing, etc. Otherwise, it would be more accurate to describe it as a straight-laced adolescent drama.

I don't know much about the original Alan Parker movie, but from the little I know, it seems it was a well-appreciated musical. 

What's the story? A bunch of kids who come from varied neighbourhoods get accepted into a performing arts academy, and spend the next 4 years navigating between their hopes and dreams and the reality presented to them by their parents, teachers and friends. We get a good cross-section: there are students who can sing, who can dance, who can play piano well, who can act, who can rock a party with his DJ-ing skills. It's an ensemble film, with no one character becoming the primary focus as the editing shuffles from one to the other. If you know your film theory well, you can foresee the problem now: a mass of underdeveloped characters going through predictable plot points. It's everything you can expect: young love leading to a jealous-boyfriend problem; getting cheated due to ambition-induced blindness; the strict teacher with a not-so-surprising backstory; crushed dreams leading to suicide. Soapish, capish?

To be fair, all these life problems are realistic and, in some ways, unique to the very nature of these American performing arts students' lives, who have decided at an early age to pursue their artistic dreams. And happily, not all the characters get a happy ending -- now that's realistic.

One thing I should commend is the editing of the dance sequences. It is fast and follows a certain rhythm, but watch carefully and you'll notice what I like about it: it doesn't blindly cut to the beat of the music. Instead it is an artful juxtaposition of movement and images and the momentum of the accompanying music. The cafeteria dance sequence is especially exhilarating to watch.

A moderately enjoyable excursion, if you have the time.

Side note: I would have thought that the film should be recommended viewing for our youngsters - to help their minds break out of the stale education system we currently offer them, if only momentarily - except that I was in a screening with about thirty 10-12 year-olds who spent the entire duration of the film scampering up and down the aisles whispering loudly to each other, doing everything except watching the movie.

Director Kevin Tancharoen Cast Kay Panabaker, Asher Book, Naturi Naughton, Paul McGill Runtime 107 min Opens 28 Jan

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Sebastian Ng studied filmmaking at the Los Angeles Film School in Hollywood, majoring in Directing and Sound Design but spent most of his time watching movies, and attending film festivals and meet-the-filmmaker sessions. Having returned to Malaysia in 2008, he currently works as a digital production coordinator for Rhythm & Hues Studios (Malaysia). He continues to fuel his passion for film by writing reviews and other ramblings for his blog,Cinematic Concerns.