OUTscene Reviewer
It’s an adjustment to take in a movie musical that doesn’t take on a weighty theme, such racial inequality (“Dreamgirls”), media manipulation (“Chicago”) or artistic stagnation (“Nine”). “Burlesque” revels in the skin-deep-only parameter. And since it avoided another a self-conscious need to dig for significance, it deserves props.
It consistently stays “surfacey.” But it gets hard to watch some of the cheesy dialogue after a while. More importantly, more music is begged for in this musical. Usually, non-theater theater-goers complain of too much music in a show.
The storyline begins with Christina Aguilera, playing Ali, abruptly deciding to leave the Iowa restaurant she is tethered to for L.A. Upon making this leap, we are dazzled with her rendition of Etta James' "Something's Got a Hold on Me." This woman has one of the great voices, and from that moment on we live in anticipation of the next time she'll burst into song.
As an actress in her first leading role on the big screen, she more than holds her own. Not that this screenplay offers much of a challenge. Ali's character arc goes from determined sweet young thing to really determined sweet young thing. But Aguilera sells it with a minimum of fuss while being very, very watchable. Really, she saves the film from being a total disaster.
Co-star Cher, playing the club's tough-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside owner, Tess, rules this roost like a bawdy mother hen. Aside from overly puffy lips, the 64-year-old looks pretty good. Plus she has one big production number and a more modest vocal solo that should keep diva devotees sighing contentedly.
Other characters served up by Steve Antin, the screenwriter, also come right out of central casting: Kristen Bell as the ego-driven cabaret star deposed by Ali; Cam Gigandet as the friendly bartender (don't be fooled by the eyeliner -- he's straight) who takes in our girl when her apartment is burgled (do we sense a romance developing?); Stanley Tucci as “Burlesque's” gay director/stage manager (basically his "Devil Wears Prada" role repurposed); Eric Dane as a real estate magnate on the prowl to buy the financially strapped club and build a high-rise.
No one will give Ali a job when she first slips into the club, so with the help of the handsome bartender , she creates one out of thin air. She grabs a tray and is now a cocktail waitress only one urgent plea/conniving manipulation/sensational audition away from that glorious stage.
She gets that shot, of course, and later gets to display that big Aguilera voice, which rocks the theater. A star may be born, but "nothing's what it seems" -- one of the many cliche lines that Antin's screenplay indulges in with glee.
Of course there has to be tension in the storyline, but the jealously of one of the other dancers just feels contrived, and the burgeoning romance Ali has with the bartender and the developer is full of silly one-liners. But that would be forgiveable if there was just more soul-moving music. We are only teased with it throughout the film. Pitty! The bodies, the talent, and the material are there to work with.
It would be a mistake, though, not to recognize another successful gamble “Burlesque” took: morphing a musical, traditionally a mating ritual, into a female-centric extravaganza. The movie backgrounds its male characters as best it can.
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