In this documentary, a pop culture curio that plays out like a pulpy exposé, director David Giancola investigates the mayhem that took place on the set of his troubled 2007 indie picture, Illegal Aliens, a movie that would be all but forgotten if not for its star Anna Nicole Smith's tragic death by overdose shortly after the film wrapped. At times, Giancola's behind-the-scene footage is painful to watch, as the attention-span-challenged Smith struggles with her lines. But most of the story involves the director and his producer John James as they try to keep their picture from sinking under the weight of diva antics and bad publicity. Haphazardly mixing extended montages, bad early-millennial music, and newsreels with the occasional off-kilter quote about show business, Fame is a poor man's version of an E! True Hollywood Story special. It's the desperate confession of a man who wants to tell his side of the story to anyone who will listen.
