Fame

The talent is a bit hit and miss in the remake of Fame. Photo / Supplied

Rating

: * * *

Verdict

:

Don't put yourself through it if you're an old school Fame fan, just leave it to the kids, they'll love it.

It's amazing it has taken this long for someone to get around to remaking Alan Parker's hit film

Fame

. Even if you weren't born when the original

Fame

was released in 1980, the popularity of

High School Musical

, and

Step Up

means you'd get good odds on the success of a story about a diverse group of kids living out their dreams at the competitive New York City High School of Performing Arts.

The only recognisable name from the original film, and the telly series it spawned, is dance teacher Debbie Allen, now in the role of principal. She's joined by Frasier's Kelsey Grammer and Bebe Neuwirth, along with Megan Mullally (

Will and Grace

), as teachers.

Mostly though, this is a cast of new faces. Some prove to be great talent, such as Denise Dupree as Naturi Naughton, the classic pianist who goes against her parents' wishes and becomes a singer, and Collins Pennie as Malik Washburn, the poor kid with a difficult past.

Others, while good at their "craft", such as Asher Book as happy-go-lucky singer Marco and Kherington Payne as bored rich girl dancer Alice, are pretty lousy actors. It seems it's a hard task finding talent that can sing and dance, and act convincingly.

Fame is set over a four-year period, but thanks to a lack of character development you'd be forgiven for thinking it all takes place over a single term. Everyone has their ups and downs and their difficulties and their insecurities, but in contrast to the original there's no real emotional intensity around whether they are going to "make it" or not.

The music and performances are all saucy and current, the routines something akin to watching Britney Spears' backup dancers. It's not a surprise then to discover director Kevin Tancharoen has worked as a choreographer for Britney and numerous other pop stars. To be fair, he does a good job of capturing the performances, especially those random moments where the cast break into song and dance in the school cafeteria.

It might not flow very well as a story, but it's fun, and with its handheld camera work and gritty New York setting thankfully not as polished or cheesy as

High School Musical

. It's also a pleasant reminder to the younger generation brought up on reality TV shows and the expectation of instant fame that maybe, just maybe, you might just have to work for it.

Francesca Rudkin

Cast

: Kelsey Grammer

Director

: Kevin Tancharoen

Running Time

: 107 mins

Rating

: PG (Coarse Language)