Burlesque (2010)

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

best movie i've ever seen.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Released in 2010, "Burlesque" is a drama/musical about a bored small town girl (Christina Aguilera) who moves to the big city to better her life and, hopefully, do something with her great talents. She gets a waitress job at a nightclub and eventually talks the owner (Cher) into allowing her to perform. Cam Gigandet plays the potential beau while Peter Gallagher appears as the club owner's ex-husband and part owner. Stanley Tucci plays the likable stage manager while Kristen Bell & Julianne Hough are on hand as dancers. Eric Dane plays the arrogant mogul who wants to purchase the club and build condos. My title blurb says it all: "Burlesque" combines the plot of 2000's "Coyote Ugly" with elements of 2002's "Chicago," particularly the curvy women and burlesque dancing sequences. While it failed to achieve the moderate success of "Coyote Ugly" at the box office, it's a significantly better movie. Although both films have the familiar formula plot, "Burlesque" has a more compelling story with a more dynamic cast and superior song & dance. It also has better women, as far as curvy appeal goes (with the arguable exception of Piper Perabo, the women in "Coyote Ugly" had the non-curvy shape of 12 year-old boys). Someone criticized that Aguilera was too "old" for the role. Poppycock. She was 29 during filming and easily passed for someone in her late teens/early twenties. Despite her alluring powers, she had the youthful/winsome/innocent vibe to pull off the part. There's a surprising peripheral plot about how homosexual relationships start with 'sex' and proceed from there. The film runs 119 minutes and was shot entirely at Sony Pictures Studios, Culver City, California. It was written & directed by Steve Antin. GRADE: B-

Take a little "Fame", a bit more "Chicago", a little bit more "Dreamgirls" and a lot more "Cabaret", mix them all up, serve cold and hey presto - "Burlesque" a really very clichéd, stereotypical movie musical featuring divas from the past and present in the personae of Cher and Christina Aguilera.You name it, almost every stock character and situation you can think of in this context is worked in and to death, the young, talented wannabe singer, her backstage, bitchy rival, the older Teflon-tough mother-hen club-owner with a heart of gold, her gay, sympathetic, through-thick-and-thin assistant manager, the grasping, super-rich property magnate out to buy out the failing club and the handsome, sympathetic barman who wouldn't you know it, is a gifted songwriter with a long-time, long-distance fiancé who puts up the young singer with predictable results. The story really itself from all of the above in a wholly predictable manner which would be all very well if it was well acted, staged and acted but unfortunately it isn't. Cher's face us so botoxed that she can only just make her lips move to speak, Aguilera tries hard, way too hard, to impress leaving just Stanley Tucci to steal most of his scenes as everyone's shoulder-to-cry-on.Like the aforementioned "Dreamgirls", the songs just aren't strong enough either and fail to lodge themselves in the memory in any way. When Aguilera's boy-friend near the end finally presents her with the big song he's been holding back for her, it's just a formulaic sub-disco effort. Moreover, it's ridiculous for Aguilera to make her big pitch to Cher by pleading to actually sing rather than lip-synch on the club stage, only for her to proceed to lip-synch all her own songs from then on.The production numbers too lack the snap and imagination of "Chicago", never mind anything Bob Fosse ever created, leaving the film a rather empty construct, filled with paper-thin characters and a happy ending constructed, literally out of thin air.This I'm afraid is one cabaret you don't want to come to.

Contains Minor SpoilersWhen I heard of this film, I had reservations because it looked like a pop style version of Chicago, with the lead actresses being Cher and Christina Augilera I was more dubious about watching it, because although Cher has been in movies before like the Witches of Eastwick I've never seen Christina in a film before.So when a friend had recommended I watch the film they lent me the DVD, I must say I heavily surprised by the film and I loved the layout of the story.I especially liked it when Ali Rose (Christina Aguilera) sang Tough Lover and Bound To You, for it used her powerful voice to make the best of the music and of course you cannot forget Tess (Cher) singing You Haven't Seen the Last of Me.I highly recommend you watch this movie, as it is amazing and the music and story is great.

Ali Rose (Christina Aguilera) leaves her small Iowa town waitress job for the lights of L.A. Tess (Cher) is the owner of the Burlesque Lounge. She struggles to keep the aging venue going. Ali hires herself as the new waitress. Alexis (Alan Cumming), Sean (Stanley Tucci) and bartender Jack Miller (Cam Gigandet) work there. Ali gets kicked out and stays with Jack thinking he's gay. It turns out that he's engaged to Natalie (Dianna Agron) who is away in a NY play. Vince Scali (Peter Gallagher) is Tess' ex-husband who owns half of the club. Nikki (Kristen Bell) is the club's diva star. Georgia (Julianne Hough) is looking to replace her as the star. Real estate guy Marcus Gerber (Eric Dane) is dating Nikki and trying to buy the club from Tess.Aguilera is too old to play the young innocent thing who comes into town. The story is older than Cher. It has no originality at all. The song and dance is fun for a little while. Aguilera knows how to sing and even Kristen Bell does a good job. However all the performance are too similar and they wear thin really quickly. They get repetitive and boring. I don't mind Aguilera's acting although she's not winning any awards any time soon. She has charisma and that's a good start.