Review: Fame

Before Britain's Got Talent, before the X-Factor, before Glee - there was Fame - one of the quintessential musicals of the 80s. For some reason, I never managed to see it back then, but remember the iconic theme music dominating the charts.

It traces a number of performing arts students as they progress through school. The dialogue is one of the best bits of it. It's gritty, loaded with appealing slang and seems to perfectly capture the struggles and aspirations of teenagers.  The students and teacher interactions, thanks to strong casting on both sides, are never less than completely believable. The teaching points were some of my favourite parts.

Thematically, it manages to cover most of the bases teens are concerned about.

Where the film struggles is in having too many characters to follow - some of whom I barely managed to connect with before it had moved on.  While Fame does have a structure based around school years, it feels perhaps realistically chaotic.

Verdict: A slice of 80s nostalgia.