Burlesque

The musical numbers reminded me of "Sweet Charity" and the camera moves around the Kit Kat Klub style room like Fosse's camera did in "Cabaret" The similarities stop there. The film is a brave attempt but the writing walks a very, very thin line. Was Steve Antin trying to be funny? Some of the lines were received with loud guffaws and there is no way to know if that was the intention because, personally, I felt like cringing. Never mind. It was fun. Christina has a powerful voice but not film presence and Cher is a fearless icon but she had so little to show for it. The best performance is, without question, by Stanley Tucci. The songs work at the moment you're watching them being performed but I couldn't hum a tune now, 48 hours later, for the life of me. So, I was entertained and in the big scheme of things, I guess that's enough

I waited a long time to write this review. I liked the film a great deal but I'm not so sure everyone will. It is entertaining in the way of old fashioned entertainment. Other people in the theater I attended liked it a lot also. That was easy to ascertain by the loud comments both during and after the film.

The story, itself, is a little shallow, mainly it's there as a means to fill in the space in between the elaborate musical numbers. However, the story is enough for the vehicle it carries, happy ending and all.

Cher, as the club owner Tess, has top billing but the entire show is undoubtedly Christina Aguilera as country-girl turned burlesque performer Ali. I'm old enough to say that in my life I've seen most of the premiere singing performers of modern times, many in live concert. Little Christina Aguilera is not just in a class by herself. Ms. Aguilera is in another universe, perhaps even another dimension. Her voice has a tonal quality, a power and a range that is nothing short of staggering. But the best part is that she knows how to make fullest use of that magnificent instrument.

Every second that Christina Aguilera is on screen she is absolutely riveting. You can't take your eyes off of her; and not just because she's remarkably beautiful. Here she is in this film, surrounded by a good number of extremely beautiful and talented women, yet they all seem to fade into the background fog when she is on. She has something more than beauty. She radiates raw animal magnetism and positively smolders in some kind of unidentifiable sexual power that just plain overshadows everything around her. In short, this film is well worth watching just for Aguilara's screen time.

If you can tear yourself away from watching Christina, there is more here to see. All the participants turn in great performances. All the dancers surrounding her are talented and wonderful to watch. All together they create very memorable entertainment. Kristen Bell as Nikki and Julianne Hough as Georgia are great but it's Bell who is the surprise. Being so used to seeing her as the usual blonde adornment in romantic comedies she surprised me with her dancing talent. She's really good. And, Hough is a given in a dancing costume; as flawlessly great as she is beautiful.

For me, the performance I enjoyed the most other than Christina's was Stanley Tucci as Sean. Mr. Tucci is a great talent who adds character and charm to everything he does and he won't disappoint anyone here.

I saved any negatives for last and none have anything to do with the cast. I found I didn't like the sound the way it was presented. The techniques they used tended to make the performances almost look like they were all canned/lip synced. I'm sure they thought the vocals had more power the way they did them but it truthfully detracted from the overall presentation.

The decision to make a PG-13 rated film was, no doubt, made to try and capture the kiddie ticket buyers. I honestly feel that if they actually pulled out the stops and made an honest R rated film with a more adult slant it would have been better and more profitable in the long run. To me, trying to make anything called "BURLESQUE" anything other than an adult film just seems ludicrous on the face of it.

In spite of the negatives it's still entertaining. I'll take friends to see it with a clear conscience.

By Bruce L. Jones

http://webpages.charter.net/bruce.jones1/

Christine A's music knocked this movie out of the park. Who cares about the story? Those pipes carry you from start to finish. Other fun stuff in there too. Stanley Tucci ALWAYS delivers. If you like to hear Christine A sing, don't miss this one. It's fun. Burlesque with an incredible twist!

Well this movie is amazing. The entire feel is Moulin Rouge meets Sex and the city.

From the dances, the costumes, the make up, the hair dos, everything was so freshly daring. The entire look of the movie was so perfect for the entire dramatic effect that this movie required and could easily pull off.

Both the actresses, Christina and Cher, were splendid with their vocals and their acting. Although Cher has been seen on and off the silver screen, this was Chistina's first major venture and she sizzled on screen.

The only pitfall for the entire movie was its very predictable and very sugary story line. There were no real black moments. Maximum it touched was a few shades of gray.

But if you enjoy musicals and have a penchant for dramatics, this is a perfect watch.

i have just watched this movie for the first time today, and I must say that I don't understand why I listened to the other reviews. All I heard was that the acting was horrible and the story was bland and so on. I will say that the opening scene is a bit too empty, but then Christina starts singing and you forget all about it. The cast is amazing: for the guys we have Christina Aguilera, Kristen Bell, Julianne Hough, Chelsea Traille and the rest of the girls, even Dianna Agron; for the ladies we have Eric Dane and of course the sculptured Cam Gigandet; of course we can't forget about the acting powerhouse that is Stanley Tucci playing the gay best friend that every woman wishes she had (especially if he is that good looking); and we can't forget about Peter Gallagher and Alan Cumming. There is a lot more eye candy from all the boys that work at Burlesque. The story is somewhat predictable but I find that the way it is told, between music and extra little drama in the background, makes it perfect. Just hearing Christina Aguilera singing is enough to carry the story along. Cher has a solo about halfway through the movie that brings you back to one of the main issues in the background which makes for a very powerful solo thanks to that story and the power of Cher's voice makes it even more dramatic. The writing is exquisite due to a main reason, it is perfectly real. It is not full of extra fluff and puff just to create some kind of big moment. It has lots of funny in it, but very subtle . Bottom line is, the script is simple, to the point and every line sounds like something you would hear somebody say in real life. Many films have all that dialogue that you know nobody would ever say but it makes for those big moment, but the simplicity in this movie is what makes me like it so much. It is a simple film, with an amazing cast, that I believe has been completely overlooked. I have a theory as to why it has been overlooked...the marketing for it wasn't very good, it only focused on Cher and Christina and it made very little reference to any of the other amazing people in it or even to the story. The trailer makes it sound like it is all about the dancing and sining, but there is an actual story behind it all. The love story is only partially shown on the trailer, there isn't even one image of Eric Dane or Peter Gallagher, there is too much information about the dancing part as well, I personally think they should have left a little mystery on the dancing and singing and added some more of the story into it.

That's just what I think. Enjoy.