Cast: Kay Panabaker (Jenny Garrison), Naturi Naughton (Denise Dupree), Megan Mullally (Ms. Fran Rowan), Bebe Neuwirth (Ms. Kraft), Debbie Allen (Ms. Angela Simms), Kelsey Grammer (Mr. Martin Cranston)
For complete info, see IMDb's Fame (2009) page.
When I heard they were going to remake Fame, I was worried that they might use too much of the original and try to copy the movie. Thankfully, they didn't do that. The new movie is a different group of (mostly unknown - at least to me) actors playing the students and teachers that (for the most part) people will recognize. I'm glad Debbie Allen was in the movie, since she was in the original movie and the TV show based on the original movie. Clearly, her part isn't nearly as focal as it was in the TV show, but I liked seeing her in the new movie.
The cast is a very talented group of performers and I think they did a good job selecting everyone for the movie. The music is very good and almost all a different style - even the remake of the song Fame, which had to be included in the remake, was very well done and updated.
If you like the performing arts, I definitely recommend renting this one. Do you need to see it in a theatre? No, but it wouldn't hurt. It's a fun movie. It's not quite as good as the original or the TV show, but that's to be expected. As long as you're not expecting it to be the most amazing movie you see, I think you can enjoy the movie and the performances.
Grade: B-
Labels: 2009, comedy, dancing, drama, family, movie, musical, remake, romance
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:00 PM show | 0 screams