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source: Burlesque

Over the last several years/decades, we've had various artists attempt musical comedy on film when they didn't, necessarily, have the talent to showcase in the film. It's almost killed the genre for me (which didn't have much going for it anyway). But when there is a legitimate talent to be featured or simply vehicled, show me where to buy a ticket. The young Christina Aguilera has nothing to prove vocally, but everything was riding on her ability to act on screen and hold our interest between songs. As well, I've always found her performances physically static, while vocally unimaginably executed, so when the trailer put her in a line of chorus girls in a burlesque house (which is showing a rivival of sorts in San Francisco), I did have a question about whether she could be compelling. I shouldn't have worried and wonder why no one hasn't grabbed her before now and put her on the screen. She's mesmerizing and surprisingly demure (which is not a problem she has in interviews on talk shows); and when she mounts the stage she controls everyone watching. Her dancing is quite acceptable and isn't accomplished in the editing room as recent filmed musicals have slipped less than talented actresses over hurdles they clearly couldn't scale. The story in "Burlesque" is a trifle, and no one tries to apologize for that. "Showgirls" tried to get around the limitations of this genre by adding scale and tawdriness and it only distanced us from any of the characters. The burlesque house here is modest, unapologetically copied from the Broadway show/film "Cabaret," and the musical numbers scaled to a small stage that really's not much larger than an average film house's proscenium. It's a lesson directors of future musicals for film should learn. Keep it scaled down and accessible; otherwise, the audience and performers get overwhelmed and shut out. Here the talent of the dancers shines. The choreography is smart and sassy (as are the costumes), and I couldn't wait for the next number…which we're given a generous helping/selection of songs, all kept within the confines of the burlesque house. Is it revolutionary? No, but it's the best offering since "Moulin Rouge," and I actually found this more appealing. I suspect the Golden Globes are going to eat this up, and that might give both Aguilera and Cher a shot at an Oscar nomination.

If you wait out the first 7 minutes of cliché small town girl heads for the big city, you will experience a glorious musical with Cher and Christina Aguilera. Set on the Sunset Strip, Burlesque is the frisky flight of fantasy of writer/director Steve Antin (whose previous claim to fame was the jock jerk in "Goonies"). There are some singer/actors that transcend their medium and undoubtedly Cher is one. Flawless at every point in the film Cher is memorizing in every scene she's in and in every song she sings. Christina Aguilera is astonishing as the ingénue turned star that demands attention through her character's pure heart and talent. I note early in this review that this is a flight of fantasy, because there are no scenes where Ali develops her talent for dancing and singing -- she starts and ends the film as talent personified. Having been a student at UCLA, I know all too well that talent and recognition are not compulsory companions. Burlesque is in the same vein of a Gary Marshall film ("Pretty Woman"), but sexier and sometimes smoking hot. Much of the sexual heat comes from Ms. Aguilera's on screen relationship with Cam Gigandet, who portrays Jack (the lead bartender at Burlesque). In a star making performance, Mr. Gigandet is more than just eye-candy for the divas; he is Ryan Phillippe in "Cruel Intentions", sexy, cool, smart, and a man anyone would long to wake up to and few other men could compete with. The supporting cast, most notably Stanley Tucci, is superb. Mr. Tucci consistently steels the screen film-after-film. I fear that much of Alan Cummings' performance was left on the cutting room floor. However, Mr. Antin leaves in one comic stage performance from Mr. Cummings that adds some levity to the film. Mr. Antin lends a steady hand from scene-to-scene and paces the film well at 100 minutes. The music and choreography are perfect at every turn. Trust me. Drink this film in like champagne, and try not to worry if it's real wine or not, because you will feel like continuing the celebration after the last credit rolls.

This is a lousy movie with some of the worst, most utterly hackneyed writing in the history of movies, but what makes it stand out as particularly ill-conceived is that the story is Rocky/"Hey kids, let's do a show," while the production numbers are faux Bob Fosse. Consequently, the numbers have nothing to do with the story, or vice versa. Started badly when the heroine gave her buddy at the bar money to buy a bike for the buddy's kid, then ran down one cliché to another till it ended 4 or 5 hours later. Cher and Aguilara sang well, but this isn't MTV, and as a movie it was awful.

Perhaps the worst screenplay ever written. A stew of noise, disconnected visual garbage, sentimental rubbish, political correctness and boring characters. The production is a total disaster. The casting is way off! Watching Cher play a part not even connected to the movie was weird! It was painful to watch her do her best at her advanced age. The rest of the cast were treated as redundant bodies thrown on the screen at random. Anyone who has seen Strictly Ballroom, Cabaret or the Blue Angel would wonder how they could make a cabaret flick so boring, so silly and so sexless with so much nudity!