A scene from 'Fame'

In 1980, the movie “Fame” spawned hits like “Out There on My Own” (wonder whatever happened to its singer Irene Cara) and its title song. It also spawned a TV series that did well and made Debbie Allen very popular. Now, nearly 30 years later, there’s a new version that is not really a remake but more of a reinvention or re-imagining. Allen is in it, playing the role of the principal this time.

The new “Fame” has the same concept as the old one. It’s still set in a New York City high school for the performing arts and covers four years in the lives of the students to whom we are introduced on “Audition Day.” We then follow their stories from Freshman to Senior Year when they graduate in a period that sees budding romance, the growth of deep friendships and painful self-awareness and discovery.

The lead character is Jenny (Kay Panabaker), a timid and insecure girl who wants to be an actress and struggles hard to achieve her ambition. She gets the attention of the dashing Marco (Asher Book), a pianist-singer who sings and plays in his own dad’s restaurant since he was a child. He later finds a rival in a soap actor, Andy Matthews (Cody Longo), who tries to seduce Jenny.

Then there’s Denise (Naturi Naughton), a classical pianist who’s just being forced by her dad to play. What she really wants is to sing. We also have Malik (Collins Pennie), an angst-filled black guy whose acting coach, Alvin Dowd (Charles S. Dutton), helps him sort out his angry feelings so he can get in touch with his inner artist. One day, Malik sees Denise belting out a pop song and he’s impressed, convincing her to do a hip-hop recording with his friend, Victor Taveras (Walter Perez) Of course, Denise hides this from her dad.

Kevin (Paul McGill) is the son of an Iowa dance studio owner who wants to achieve fame as a ballet dancer but, sadly, he doesn’t really have the talent for it. The other characters are Neil (Paul Iacono), a wanna be filmmaker with his video camera; Joy (Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, the granddaughter of our own Sylvia La Torre), an aspiring singer-actress; and Alice (Kherington Payne), an exceptional dancer who is Victor’s love interest.

Despite the haphazard characterizations, the acting is generally acceptable. Panabaker is lucky to have two good-looking guys competing for her attention and she does have some good chemistry with Book. Among the other students, Iacono stands out because of his hilarious scenes while Naugton really goes to town singing “Out There on My Own” and the title song that is used only in the end credits. Among the teachers, the standouts are Bebe Neuwirth (“Frasier”) as the exacting dance teacher and Megan Mullaly (“Will and Grace”) as the voice teacher who’s the only one with some kind of a back story and gets to do a fantastic karaoke version of “You Took Advantage of Me.”

The new version is directed by the debuting Kevin Tancharoen who’s better known on TV. It does have a very contemporary feel in that you feel like you’re watching a musical variety show or a contest like “American Idol” and “You Can Dance” as it devotes more footage to well staged song and dance numbers, neglecting to give better development to its characters. Among the musical numbers, the one with the most hyperkinetic energy is the one where the students jam while having lunch. Another good one is the “Black and Gold” Halloween number with fine costume and makeup.

Viewers used to the “High School Musical” series will enjoy it, but those looking for more believable characters and a more compelling storyline will be disappointed. Fans of the original film will also think it’s better than the remake, which is geared to a new generation of viewers that’s why it’s also updated with new songs like Coldplay’s “Try.”

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Heigl and Butler make a cute pair in ‘The Ugly Truth’

Those who enjoy Star Cinema’s formulaic romantic comedies will drool over “The Ugly Truth” as it comes from the same cookie-cutter template. The difference is that Star Cinema avoids the bawdy, sexy words they use rampantly here. The movie will also appeal to the fans of Katherine Heigl, who first zoomed to fame on TV as Izzie in “Grey’s Anatomy” then achieved big screen stardom in romantic comedies like “Knocked Up” and “27 Dresses.”

She now produces “The Ugly Truth” herself and once again plays the lead role of Abby Richter, the producer of a morning show on TV in Sacramento who’s being hound by her boss to do something to up their poor ratings.

While watching TV on cable access, she sees a show called “The Ugly Truth” with a crass and unshaven host, Mike Chadway (Gerard Butler), who has some controversial ideas about man-woman relationships. She’s incensed by Mike’s chauvinistic pontifications and calls up the show where they have an on-air altercation.

When she reports to their office later, she gets the surprise of her life when her boss tells her that they’re hiring the guy from “Ugly Truth” to do a segment in her morning show. She’s vehemently against it, but once Mike is on the air, he’s like a loose cannon who even manages to patch things up between the warring married couple who are the show’s main hosts, Larry (John Michael Higgins), who he correctly diagnosed as feeling emasculated by his more successful wife, Georgia (Cheryl Hines). And what’s more, he’s a hit with their viewers, increasing their ratings considerably.

At home, Abby tries to rescue her pet from a tree and sees a hunky handsome neighbor coming out of the shower. She slips from the tree and the neighbor ends up rescuing her. He turns out to be a doctor, Colin (Eric Winter), and has all the qualities of the ideal guy he’s describing to Mike. She calls him in front of Mike to ask for a date, but Mike is flabbergasted by her cheap behavior and teaches her how to hook her man in a more effective manner. Wonder of wonders, Mike’s advice works and Colin begins to earnestly court her.

Rom-coms like this won’t work without scenes subjecting the heroine to embarrassing situations, just like in “The Proposal.” Here, Abby is taken to a ball game by Colin, accidentally dumps drinks on his lap and ends up being shown on the big screen monitor while she’s wiping his crotch like she’s giving him head. In a dinner date, she wears vibrating panties and the remote control is found by a little boy who then manipulates it like a toy, making her squirm and squeal on her way to mechanically induce pleasure. This is reminiscent of Meg Ryan’s fake orgasm scene in “When Harry Met Sally.”

As we all know, in films of this genre, the lead characters who start with antagonistic behavior to one another eventually end up in each other’s arms. This would work only if the leads have good chemistry together and no doubt, Heigl and Butler do make a cute pair on screen. Both of them have great appeal and charisma and Director Robert Luketic (“Legally Blond,” “21”) knows exactly how to play them off against each other to come up with laugh out loud raunchy scenes. The moment of self realization occurs when Mike gets an offer from a bigger TV station and Abby is assigned to convince him to sign up a three-year contract with them. Mike resigns but you know there’ll be the usual reunion for the indispensable happy ending and this happens while they’re both arguing on the air while on board a colorful hot air balloon, without them being aware that their bickering is being telecast on the air.

Butler is currently the busiest Brit import working in Hollywood, eclipsing the likes of Jude Law and Clive Owen. And he’s certainly not choosy with his assignments, seemingly accepting whatever comes his way from action flicks like “300,” “RocknRolla,” and “Gamer” to more wholesome films like “Nim’s Island” and “P.S. I Love You.” Here, he speaks with an American accent and even does a charming dance number with Heigl who manages to give a very sympathetic performance especially in the scenes where he tries to put down Mike’s cockiness.