"The Fame" (T-Mac)
Fame and fortune is not, as once declared by a seemingly naïve Ed Murrow, morally neutral, but on the contrary, through it, that is, riding its path, one is subjected to the demons of vice and temptation, the turmoil of many an inner divergence between ethics, and all but the damnation to hell as you are swept up by the public, thrown into a rush of decadence and a selfish egotism; all until you are so consumed in yourself, so self centered that, like the devil, you are thrown into a pit of fire and brimstone. Hey, welcome to Hollywood!
Such is the path we see of “protagonist” Drew McKenzie, an up and coming star, brim full of talent and that oh so boyish idealism of sitting in the public’s ever watching eye. Such a journey taken, with so much a swerve in principles, do we not expect to see a level of development? Do we see it? Yes and no; for I enjoy my depth below the surface, and while I saw the clichéd, but still fresh, hints of a worth while attempt to launch into, no matter how vaguely, the human psyche, it fell short, both literally and figuratively. To be sure though, we are only given Drew to sink our teeth into. With his exception, maturity of character seems sparse, if non-existent, and even with his inclusion, it all occurs in jolts. For example, he refuses a drink, then takes drugs. Everything is fine, then a death, be it his or Ricky’s. You see this erratic movement from event to event, filler all too absent. Not only does this make me wonder what lies in the creases of the book, the unseen sections, but it brings me also to proclaim a piece of criticism that I would have thought, in any other film, odd to use, and that is, don’t be stingy, when you take a cup size this big, fill her up by all means!
The actual writing of it, the dialogue and flow of words, is a spectrum to which no end is secluded. There are moments in which I feel impressed, alas saddened knowing that such a line or scene was a sore thumb in an otherwise choppy display; and also scenes that merely confirmed my criticism. All of it had this fantastical realism though, to use an oxymoron; as it was bitter more so then gritty; bleak rather then dark. A floating on air sense of cruelness, you can say, and in this, it succeeded, albeit not to the level we could have wanted, better then I initially expected. Seeing Drew with the vomit, in bed, I felt a coldness, not a sickness, but an impact at the first stage, none the less. My concern rests in if this is due process by character attachment, or if it is the general tone in which the scene, the pinpointed lines, are written? I find the second option much more palatable to my reaction of the film.
With the novel format, and I do mean “novel” in the strict definition of it, and not the ingenuity any other “wonderful” idea would have held, I cannot whole heartedly suggest this film to anyone. The pacing is that of, I was to say a squirrel, but let’s use “actor” for relevancy, on drugs; both inconsistent and unreliable, and the scenes range from half a page to somewhat over. There is little time to “get into” any scene, to actually find a bearing to which the scene sticks with you for the next; everything ends up flowing as it is, but with the missing pieces, we are left with a jigsaw puzzle. The box, and thus picture of it, is there, don’t get me wrong. But do we care enough to fill in anything save for the outside rim?
One segment of the film I was slightly curious to was how the love story would be handled, if it would at all. That happened to be one of the film’s benefits, as it was sweet, and more engaging then most other aspects; at times more sugary then the syrup you put on waffles, and at others vicious-lite. Paige was well done, to be sure, or shall I say, had well done potential, but where she fell was the fate she, even right when we met her, seemed so destined to. There was no real, authentic spontaneity with her, and her role fell very dependent. She would move when, and in the same manner, Drew did, and seemed stuck on a roller coaster she couldn’t get off.
Overall, I thought that the film was entertaining in contrast to what it could have been, and an easy read, though all but a section of the credit need be handed to the film’s short nature and choppy use of “quick edits” and montages. Then again, it is only natural these are used, as the whole film, essentially, seemed like a montage; a display of a life in a small quantity of time, pulling the “greatest hits” and most shocking moments to display, and, in result, we are left with common myths about fame put simply for us in a manner we can understand, the screenplay. Either way though, despite a all to clear message, the technicalities behind which it was made, and the manner of how we view the characters and the world they live in, due to the size and length of the script, we are presented with an all too real definition of the phrase fifteen minutes of “Fame”.
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