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Fame

Fame

Drama · Music · 1980

A chronicle of the lives of several teenagers who attend a New York high school for students gifted in the performing arts.

Movie details

Fame

“If they've really got what it takes, it's going to take everything they've got.”

1980 Drama · Music 2h 14m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.4 / 10

Community rating

A chronicle of the lives of several teenagers who attend a New York high school for students gifted in the performing arts.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Fame?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Stomp the Yard

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After the death of his younger brother, a troubled 19-year-old street dancer from Los Angeles is able to bypass juvenile hall by enrolling in the historically black, Truth University in Atlanta, Georgia. But his efforts to get an education and woo the girl he likes are sidelined when he is courted by the top two campus fraternities, both of which want and need his fierce street-style dance moves to win the highly coveted national step show competition.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Alan Parker

Written by

Christopher Gore

Irene Cara

Irene Cara

Coco Hernandez

Barry Miller

Barry Miller

Ralph Garci/Raul Garcia

Maureen Teefy

Maureen Teefy

Doris Finsecker

Paul McCrane

Paul McCrane

Montgomery MacNeil

Lee Curreri

Lee Curreri

Bruno Martelli

Gene Anthony Ray

Gene Anthony Ray

Leroy Johnson

Antonia Franceschi

Antonia Franceschi

Hilary Van Doren

Court is in session

Put Fame on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.