While it's somewhat dated, Alan Parker's "Fame" has more heart and soul than most teen-oriented films of the 90's. The film, which later spawned a tv-series (which had a fresh cast ev'ry season) and a Broadway musical, follows a diverse group of teens over the course of four years at New York's High School for the Performing Arts. The opening audition scenes have their share of laughs (the woman who re-enacts "The Towering Inferno"; the guy who recites the female lines in "Romeo & Juliet".) As the film progresses, and as we get more into the lives of Montgomery, Ralph, Coco, Doris, and Leroy, we share a fair amount of their joy and pain. The range of emotions here is more believable than the artificial worlds of recent Hollywood teen films.
Of course, the movie is remembered more for it's music than anything else (evidenced by it's Oscar recognition.) "Hot Lunch", which unfolds as a timid Doris looks for a place to eat, is an uncanny classic. Likewise with "I Sing The Body Electric", which closes the film. And while on the subject of music, I must mention the character of Bruno; his world of synthesizers and electronic instrumentation was, as the music teacher put it, "musical masturbation" at the time, but would be commonplace in this decade.
It may not be a classic, it may not be an epic, but it's worth seeing, especially to see Paul McCrane (now Rocket Romano on "ER") in his younger days.
Of course, the movie is remembered more for it's music than anything else (evidenced by it's Oscar recognition.) "Hot Lunch", which unfolds as a timid Doris looks for a place to eat, is an uncanny classic. Likewise with "I Sing The Body Electric", which closes the film. And while on the subject of music, I must mention the character of Bruno; his world of synthesizers and electronic instrumentation was, as the music teacher put it, "musical masturbation" at the time, but would be commonplace in this decade.
It may not be a classic, it may not be an epic, but it's worth seeing, especially to see Paul McCrane (now Rocket Romano on "ER") in his younger days.