Fame (1980)

Alan Parker’s engaging drama tells the story of a group of teenagers at the New York High School of Performing Arts. We follow them from the initial auditions through to their eventual graduation, getting to know their personalities and backstories through their social interactions as well as their musical, dancing and acting talents. 

It’s strongest for the first three quarters. The characters are developed well, and – unlike the spin-off TV show version – it doesn’t shy away from depicting the grittier aspects of their lives. The ending left me a little unsatisfied, though, and a few of the threads were left unresolved. 

It’s almost a musical, but not quite. On two occasions, spontaneous music and dancing breaks out (in the canteen and in the streets), but given that they are all performers it just about works within the “realist” framework. 

Performances are uniformly strong. Irene Cara (who sings the well-known theme tune) is Coco Hernandez, Lee Curreri is keyboard wizard Bruno Martelli, Barry Miller is troubled comedian Ralph Garci, Gene Anthony Ray is skilled-but-illiterate dancer Leroy Johnson, and Maureen Teefy is the “ordinary” Doris Finsecker who, inevitably, finds out that she's not so ordinary after all.