Fame (D+)

(PG for teen drinking, some profanity, a sexual situation):  One wonders - again - why a new version of a formerly successful movie must be made.  None to date have worked. 

The answer, of course, is to capitalize on the success of the original, to update it with recent tech & social advancements, and to aim it more strongly at the latest target audience, the youth market.  And, of course, to make money with a budget-conscious production that's cast with relative unknowns.  

It's a terrible, unoriginal film on every level, but Aline Brosh McKenna's & Allison Burnett's cloying script with little help from director Kevin Tancharoen and a smattering here & there with snippets of unimpressive choreography, singing, acting, etc., will please no one but the targeted impressionable kids
This "Fame" is tame.  The only resemblance to the award winning 1980 extravaganza is that it runs the gamut at the NY High School for the Performing Arts from auditions through senior graduation, skimming along the surface, with all the expected highs & lows among the expectedly diverse candidates for stardom:  Denise (Naturi Naughton, the rare find,  a talented pianist who wants to be more than just another classical musician) to Marco (Asher Book, who, like most of the actors & singers, finds success among teens with a thin, untrained voice), along with every fill-in-the-blanks stereotypical character from the Ghetto to the privileged. 

More interesting are the faculty, again a cross section of expected types as they patiently, caringly attempt to mold their neophytes into seasoned stars - with the usual varying results.

Along the way are the bad breaks, the heartaches, the soulful pairing of love birds, the overly sensitive approach to tough situations - and the survival of the fittest.  Finally is the Big Show at which they all shine like neon lights on Times Square.  The choreography, as is true throughout the movie, is flush with energy - sultry, violently emotional - just the sort of thing that any kid in the audience would appreciate.

And the message?  Ya gotta be you!  With that in mind, even the losers win out at the end.   It's 107-minutes of the same old, same old, just with newer faces.

One final production note:  that senseless use of rapid speed changes within a shot, so rampant in HDTV these days, has made it into this flick - and it gets tiresome after too much needless exposure.  (Grade: D+)