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Avg. Critic Score: 39 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore^® based on all critic reviews

Information for Parents:

Iffy for 15+

Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

75

San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle
Much of the movie has a structureless, documentary feeling to it, which is good and should have been pushed further. Read full review
50

The Hollywood Reporter |
It's almost laughably bland and watered-down in its desire to appeal to the widest possible audience. It won't succeed in that goal, but it has enough pizzazz to captivate undemanding tweeners. Read full review
50

Boston Globe | Wesley Morris
It's not a good sign when the first few minutes of a movie about singing, dancing, rapping, video-camera-wielding teenagers reminds you of a certain grimy horror franchise. Read full review
50

Washington Post |
This new Fame, whitewashed for the kids, leaps into a catchy rhythm at the start. Read full review
50

The New York Times |
While the movie suffers from a surfeit of flash, it nonetheless offers the undeniable power of young performers pursuing art at peak dexterity. Read full review
50

USA Today | Claudia Puig
Fame offers slick entertainment with some exuberance, but it's devoid of soul or heart. Read full review
50

Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert
A sad reflection of the new Hollywood, where material is sanitized and dumbed down for a hypothetical teen market that is way too sophisticated for it. It plays like a dinner theater version of the original. Read full review
50

Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum
The teachers (including original cast member Debbie Allen as school principal) turn out to be the best part of the show. Read full review
40

Variety | Brian Lowry
This PG-rated offering thus dances along a fine line -- one that suggests a shelf-life well short of its "I wanna live forever" anthem. Read full review
30

Los Angeles Times |
Someone has driven a stake through the heart and ripped out the soul of the 1980 original. The responsible parties, make that irresponsible parties, should be found, thrown in movie jail and not allowed within 50 feet of a set again. Ever. Read full review

Metacritic link View more reviews for Fame on Metacritic

Information for Parents

Common Sense Media says Iffy for 15+ Raw look at teen life more shocking than you might recall.

What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that, in terms of content, this R-rated 1980 film is much heavier than both the teen-friendly TV drama it spawned and the PG-rated 2009 remake -- consequently, it's only age-appropriate for mature teens. In addition to frequent, unbleeped swearing (including many forms of "f--k," which even pops up in the classroom with no objection from teachers), viewers will see plenty of topless female characters and watch teens grapple with serious situations, including intense competition, abortion, drug use, poverty, sexual identity (one male student comes out), and suicide. Many of the students make iffy choices that aren't always shown to have negative consequences, although at least two are generally positive role models.

Families can talk about whether these teens' stories are still relevant to today's high schoolers. Teens: Which of these characters, if any, do you relate to? Do any of the characters' problems seem outdated to you?
Does it surprise you to see students talking back to their teachers and using curse words like "f--k" in the classroom? Are curse words more often used as a form of expression or as a means to disrespect someone?
What messages does this film send about the consequences of premarital sex, acting out in school, and using recreational drugs?
This film is a great opportunity to open a dialogue with mature teens about the stresses they face, including pressure to do drugs, drink, and have sex. How do they respond? How do they protect themselves?

The good stuff

Positive messages: Students have positive intentions to succeed. But the film imparts complex lessons about growing up by putting them in a variety of difficult situations. They don't always make the "right" choices, either, and because the plot resists tying up loose ends, it's rare to see what the consequences are.
Positive role models: Some students prove to be generally poor role models (cursing out teachers at school, having unprotected sex, using drugs) but ultimately redeem themselves at the end of the film, while others stay positive from the beginning. The cast is racially and ethnically diverse, but there's also some racial stereotyping, although it's largely a product of its time. Some students are at the mercy of predatory adults and don't always behave well.

What to watch for

Violence: A student (who carries knives) has a violent outburst in class in which he storms out and smashes glass doors with a trash can, and there are a handful of fistfights. Other characters describe violent incidents (not shown on screen) that have negatively affected their lives -- including a 5-year-old girl getting attacked by a junkie, a mother having her head put through a wall by her husband, and someone shooting himself in the head. One near suicide.
Sex: Several shots of frontal female nudity from the waist up, plus kissing and innuendo that teens are having unprotected sex (it's implied that Doris loses her virginity to Ralph, and another young couple's sexual activities ultimately lead to an abortion). One student becomes pregnant and schedules an appointment to have an abortion without her parents' knowledge. Another meets a stranger who claims to be a filmmaker and agrees to go to his apartment for a screen test, where she's asked to take off her top -- and does, although she cries as she's doing it.
Language: Heavy usage of "f--k" (in all its incarnations, including "motherf--ker" and "absof--kinglutely"), "s--t," "ass," "goddamn," and "hell," plus slurs and sexual terms like "faggot," "fag hag," "bitch," "dick," and "t-ts." Some obscene gesturing.
Consumerism: Not an issue
Drinking, drugs and smoking: Teens drink occasionally in nightclubs (legal drinking age at the time was 18). Two students smoke marijuana at a movie theater, and a first-time user says, "I got stoned! It was more than incredible; it was fun." Ralph uses unspecified drugs and drinks after his comedy shows.

Common Sense Media An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.