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This is about the part when the movie turned sour. It had already lost most of its credibility with me, but with each subsequent scene I was now forced to endure every movie cliché you'd expect if I told you, "This is a movie about singers, dancers, and actors in high school." Students "spontaneously" breaking out into song and dance during lunch? Check. Student wanting to pursue the arts but finds that their parents aren't supportive? Check and check. Karaoke? Check.

It's not a good sign when you think to yourself, "Sister Act 2 was WAY better than this movie."

The second half of the movie improved somewhat. It actually dealt with some of the harsher realities of life as a performing artist. One of the girls, a struggling singer/actress, meets up with a former student who had previously dropped out to take a part on a soap opera. He asks her to come by his trailer so that he can introduce her to the show's casting director, a dream come true for any aspiring actress, only to find out that he's just trying to get in her pants. Another girl struggles to maintain her grades, even though her time is being monopolized by her work on Sesame Street (nerdy, yes, but an actual paying gig!) and has to drop out. A dancer is heart-breakingly told that even though he loves dance more than anything, he's simply not good enough to make it as a professional.

Fame would have been well served to have explored issues like this further; it could have been a refreshing dose of reality for the Glee crowd. But instead, we get more cardboard teenage romances and pop music sequences. Too bad.

I did not like Fame. Beyond its error in giving us a glossy, stereotyped representation of the arts, it never took the time to develop any of its characters, and cast extremely weak actors to play the parts - and when your plot involves a group of characters studying to master the art of acting in a supposedly great performing arts school, it's tough to ignore that your actual actors are bad. The script, as I've mentioned, was not balanced at all, jumping between harsh reality, clichéd movie scenes and uninteresting storylines.

Worst of all, the movie does not provide us with any insight into the exhilaration that the performing arts bring to the performers. The scenes in which performers appear to enjoy what they're doing come few and far between. Why would anyone put up with the rigor supposedly offered by this school? Why would anyone waste their two hours on a plane watching this film? It's beyond me.

Rating: 1 1/2 stars.

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