Naturi Naughton in "Fame"
courtesy of MGM Home Entertainment
“What Were Their Names?”

When they decided to remake “Fame” they tried to assemble a cast who would make an impact on us. Sadly when you have finished watching this DVD you won’t remember any of the names of the cast or even what they did in the movie.

The first version of “Fame” was in 1980 and it was full of talented youngsters who played realistic characters. Chances are you still recall Coco and Bruno if you saw the earlier version. This time out the actors are talented musically but their characters as written are paper thin. The kids give it their all but are left “out there on their own.” It is only when they sing or dance that they come alive and the movie has some energy.

The film starts with Audition Day for the New York School of the Performing Arts. A variety of students turns up for the chance to attend the school but only a small percentage is accepted. Among them are gifted pianist Denise (Naturi Naughton), singer Marco (Asher Book), dancer Alice (Kherington Payne), rapper Malik (Collins Pennie), and actress Jenny (Kay Panabaker).

All of these characters are stereotypical. Denise is locked into classical music by her parents, but she wants to sing. Marco is so laid back and nonchalant about his career that it drives him and his girlfriend Jenny apart. She is definitely driven. Malik’s mother doesn’t want him to waste his time on rap music, and Alice’s parents want her to get in an exclusive dance troop and leave the School of Performing Arts behind. None of these situations grab the audience and when there is a crisis it is soon resolved.

If the students aren’t fully developed character wise the teachers are even worse off. Kelsey Grammer, Megan Mullally, Bebe Neuwirth and Charles S Dutton all make only brief appearances. They are flashes on the screen and never serve any real purpose.

The one outstanding musical number is Naughton’s rendition of “Out Here On My Own” which is a song from the original movie. “Fame” is also sung over the closing credits. The rest of the music is forgettable, as are the dance numbers. Payne tries to inject some life into her big dance number but it never takes off.

The struggle of young, talented people to make their way towards fame and fortune is generally mesmerizing but not in this case. There are no scenes that elicit emotions and no scenes that touch the heart. The first “Fame” scored points in both these areas.

This new cast sings and dances its heart out but to no avail. In the end you won’t even remember their names, and that’s a shame.

Watching the DVD of the futuristic Bruce Willis thriller “Surrogates” is like seeing a future where everyone is a Stepford person. That’s because in this film all the people who are visible in the outside world are flesh covered robots who do the bidding of their masters/mistresses who are safe within the confines of their homes and are guiding the robots through mind thoughts. It is a brave new world and one where comfort and safety have overridden a desire to be involved and part of life.

Tom Greer (Willis) is a cop. He and his partner Peters (Rhada Mitchell) both use robots to do their leg work. At the start of the film they are summoned to a double homicide where two robots were dismantled. This would be only a minor problem but in this case the humans behind the robots were also killed.

The man killed turns out to have been the son of a man named Canter (James Cromwell) who was the genius behind the invention of the mind controlled robots. The death weapon was a gun which not only kills the robots but can go back to the source and kill the masters.

The audience learns early on that Tom is a man with deep psychological scars. He and his wife Maggie had a son who was killed in a car wreck. Since that time Maggie (Rosamund Pike) only ventures outside her bedroom door through her robot. Tom usually uses his robot but though a twist of circumstances he ventures out to investigate this crime himself.

Willis is solid as Tom but he doesn’t get to give him much of a life. This man is either depressed or beaten up in all the scenes of the film. He truly takes a lickin’ but keeps on tickin’. Pike is glacial and aloof as Maggie, Tom’s wife. She is flawlessly beautiful but since she is in robotic form for most of the film she is almost totally non-emotional.

The special effects in the film are good with the robots stopping sometimes in mid stride to be put on “Pause.” They also possess superhuman abilities as robots, jumping over cars, taking physical abuse, etc.

The film is glossy and slick with the actors doing good jobs to bring the story to life realistically. Still there is something missing; something hard-edged that would pull the plot up to a higher level. That elusive something never appears and the movie ends up being middle of the road good. It is a fun but fleeting film, meaning it doesn’t make an imprint on your mind.

Do you remember when Mariah Carey made the movie “Glitter”? It was so poorly received that I don’t know how she had the nerve to ever get in front of a camera as an actress again. But the girl has guts and she picked herself up, dusted herself off, and came back to make an appearance in the film “Precious” for which she received rave reviews.

Carey also made the movie “Tennessee” which is now out on DVD. In this film she plays an aspiring singer who is on the run from the troubles of her life. Crystal, the singer, joins up with two brothers who are on a pilgrimage to their home town. They hope to find their father who they haven’t seen in a long time and get their lives back on track.

The two brothers are played by Adam Rothenberg and Ethan Peck. They along with Carey excel in this small, tightly focused film. This is the kind of movie that allows Carey to do her best work.

Good acting is also on view in “Southland: The Complete First Season”. This first season is currently airing on TNT but on the DVD you can see the stories completely uncensored. This is a gritty series about LA cops. Ben McKenzie, Tom Everett Scott and Regina King head a superb cast.

There are seven episodes included here and my hope is the showing on TNT is so successful it will merit the production of more episodes in the future.

I have seen enough of “I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell.” This DVD is so tasteless and offensive that I can’t recommend it to anyone except those who are looking for something completely tasteless and crude.

Matt Czuchry (“The Good Wife”) and Geoff Stults (“Seventh Heaven”) are the stars of this mess. I do have to say they are good at being bad, and when Traci Lord appears in the cast wellyou know things are going to pick up in all the wrong ways.

If you like raunch then this is the movie for you. Just keep it out of the hands of the kids!
 

 

 

 

 

©2010 Jackie K. Cooper

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