User reviews

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/

At times I can be a bit snobby about movies. I am more attracted to slow artsy fartsy movies that try make grand points about society or existence. However, not all movies are to meant to challenge social structures or deliver underlying meanings and here there certainly is none of that.... and I liked it!

Burlesque is a little cheesy, yup, filled with clichés, uh huh, predictable, you betcha! That is all part of it's charm though. It set out to be a fun romp with some sexy outfits and entertaining song numbers and it delivered. There is no great villain, there is no great backstabbing - which in someways is more realistic. It doesn't try to have an overly deep plot. It knows it's superficial and embraces it. Did anyone ever doubt Christina could sing? Her voice is amazing and her acting ain't bad either. Cher is well, Cher and how can anyone not love her? Stanley Tucci certainly steals the show while Cam Gigandet provides some delicious eye candy. If you want to be visually and audibly entertained for about an hour and a half, shut your brain off, sit back and enjoy Burlesque. Disclaimer: this recommendation does not pertain to men, unless you are a man of the Cher-loving variety. Despite a burlesque club technically being a 'strip club' this movie is certainly geared for the ladies.

Cliche ridden and amateurishly written, "Burlesque" still has a talented cast who gives it the "old college try" and does their best to elevate the material. Cher and Stanley Tucci, both usually excellent in their acting roles, really ham it up here, probably because that was the only way they could make their silly dialogue seem somewhat interesting. Christina Aguilera looks like she graduated from the Dakota Johnson school of acting, which isn't saying much. Among the others, Eric Dane does manage to come across with his acting dignity intact, but he is not given enough screen time. The sole saving grace is the dance numbers which are very entertaining. All in all, not a bad movie to sit through while you are eating a long lunch during the weekend. Just whip up a ham sandwhich with lots of spicy mustard, grab a soda pop and a bag of chips, and go for it. The only real way to get through this one.

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.

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

When going to watch Burlesque you first have to know a few things:

1.) You are watching this movie, knowing the acting isn't going to be great, but to see great musical numbers and fantastic costumes.

2.) The acting is partially terrible because of the cliche ridden but not mind-numbing storyline, and corny writing.

3.) Cher is great, but understanbly only contributed two songs. Would have loved to see more Cher action, but she hadn't recorded original songs for 7 years. She is also aging, gracefully, but aging nonetheless. This movie was made for Christina Aguilera.

4.) Christina Aguilera. I have a love/hate relationship with her musical career, but you cannot deny the power of her voice in this film and just in general. Her range, control, vibrato and power are just astounding and really shine in the musical numbers. She also looks fantastic here, and does a great job of playing a believable small-town girl trying to make it big.

4.) Stanley Tucci is a national treasure, and is delightful throughout the film with most of the best lines. The whole cast did a great job as well, but Stanley Tucci is great at playing these types of rolls and you can tell he has total fun with it.

This movie is great if you like musicals and don't mind sitting through a cute but predictable storyline. As a seamstress I am in love with the costumes, particularly the green silk dress Christina wears 3/4 of the way through the film. It's dramatic, got a really beautiful built in corset, and with the minimal makeup, hair and jewelry she is transformed into a goddess.

Christina Aguilera and Cher signing tunes in the same film has to be tough to top. The tunes are all pretty great and the storyline is pretty good too. Anyone a fan of Christina's and musicals will love this.

BURLESQUE sets itself up for some fairly blunt 2011 criticism for it's lame storyline but if one knows their films of the 30s to the 70s, you can see they type of nightclub musical it wants to be. If BURLESUE was made in the 30s it would be a Warner bros Vitaphone musical like 42nd STREET or FOOTLIGHT PARADE. Christina Aguelira would be played by Joan Blondell who she actually resembles. Cam Gigandet would be James Cagney. Cher vs Mae West. Hop into the 40s and we might have Rita Hayworth as Cher, Berry Grable as Christina, and called COVER GIRL or PIN UP GIRL, or if you prefer staying in a cheaper locale THE SWING PARADE OF 1946, Monogram's big nightclub musical mess starring Gale Storm and performers in a finale who did not appear anywhere else in the whole film. In the 50s, well just have a look at either PAL JOEY or THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT. The opening 5 minutes of BURLESQUE resembles the 1965 Elvis credit sequence on a bus in TICKLE ME. BURLESQUE really really wants to be all of the fabulous nightclub scenes from SWEET CHARITY... the scenes where Charity meets Vittorio and sees the RICH MAN'S FRUG dance numbers with awesome Barrie Chase and her 10' legs and whopper hair. Now that we are in Fossey territory, add some CABARET (in fact, a lot of CABARET), mix in MOULIN ROUGE and plenty of CHICAGO and Columbia's B grade subsidiary Screen Gems give us a new B grade nightclub musical with all the above elements called BURLESQUE. This film just wants to be some of all those above. Hell it is far better than NINE and miles ahead of RENT, which for me is just fine. I actually think the 'lets save the nightclub' storyline is a wink to other cliché musicals and knows it. (Boogaloo, anyone?) What is good about BURLESQUE is the hilarious script which has some terrific lines, the excellent rapport between the three leads Cher, C.A and Stanley Tucci... and of course cute Cam as the Paul Newman type love interest. His 'box of cookies' nude scene adds some well timed zing. The dance numbers are thoroughly enjoyable albeit badly edited and filmed too close, like most of the film. The songs good and the costumes offer the old razzle dazzle as well they could and actually do. BURLESQUE knows it is silly and has a great time with it... hey just like an actual BURLESQUE show. Just enjoy. it's not difficult. BURLESQUE might even get Barbra Striesand out of the house to make a new musical given she would see it as her husband James Brolin has a cameo and Cher is her same age: 66. Also finally Cher might get the cash to make the Mae West musical for which she is now ideal. BURLESQUE would make a terrific double feature with Columbia's own 1948 cheapie LADIES OF THE CHORUS starring Marilyn Monroe in the Christina part.

I love camp. I love stupidity. My only stipulation is that a campy movie shouldn't pretend to be smarter than it is. And thankfully, this one doesn't. I'm not going to say this is a great, well-made movie, but I will say that it's entertaining. Some of the time.

Any of the scenes in the club, including the musical numbers, are pure dumb fun, and I love every second of it. The acting isn't good and I don't care; if anything, that adds to it. There are plenty quotable lines, too. I will say that I wish Cher did a little more singing in it, but I can get past that.

My problem with this movie is that when it's not a full-blown camp extravaganza, it's boring. Anything having to do with Christina Aguilera's boyfriend or personal life is just dreadfully, painfully boring, and I'm just begging to get back to the good stuff.

To summarize: If you want a professional, well-constructed story, this isn't it. If you want brainless fun and like this sort of thing, this is it.

This film is about a small town girl from Iowa who goes to Los Angeles to pursue her dreams of dancing and singing.

"Burlesque" is very enjoyable on many levels. The costumes and sets are dazzling, and the dances are great. The moves are seductive but not erotic, and I commend the choreographers for getting this fine balance right. Christina Aguilera has always been known for her powerful voice, and in "Burlesque" her voice and singing skills are brilliantly displayed.

In some films, the abundance of songs can make the film like an extended music video, or is awkward or forced. In "Burlesque" there is no such problem. The speaking scenes and singing scenes transit smoothly from one another. Another thing I really like about this film is the witty lines, they made me laugh so many times! I never thought "Burlesque" could be so good, I think it should have made a lot more in the box office.

Imagine Chicago and Cabaret with none of the social commentary but all of the sexy, flashy fun. This movie is "almost" that.

All great musicals have songs that help to push the story forward. This is not one of them. This movie has a lot more in common with Coyote Ugly and Flashdance. Flashdance especially. Not saying I didn't enjoy myself. On top of the 4 songs that actually do push the story forward, there are really some awesome pieces that just need to be seen to be believed. When the camera isn't cutting away from the dances, some real magic happens. Even Cam Gigandet gets to do a little striptease that has to be seen to be believed. Some of the lead-ins to the musical numbers were very unnecessary. When a movie opens with Christina Aguilera wailing away to cut away scenes burlesque dancers she has yet to meet, and follows with Cher wailing away with those very dancers, I think it's safe to say that if anyone is still in the theater, they get that these two ladies will sing and dance.

Christina Aguilera plays Ally who escapes from her small town life to Hollywood and finds herself in a club called "The Burlesque Lounge" which has an exterior that resembles a gay youth center I used to frequent as a teen. There she meets the owner of the club Tess (Cher), her gay companion Sean (Stanly Tucci), a sexy metro bartender (Cam Gigandet) and the star of "The Burlesque Lounge," the villainous yet redeemable Nikki (an underused Kristen Bell).

There should be no doubt about Cher's acting ability. This woman went through Moonstruck, Mermaids and Tea with Mussolini. She's an actor people. Christina Aguilera really surprised me with her portrayal of Ally. I thought what she did with the character was very real and honest and I can only imagine how hard that is to do with all the flashy set pieces and costumes flying about.

Director and writer Steven Antin (Robin Antin's brother) really has to be praised for just diving into this material. Musical movies can be really tricky and this movie in particular straddles a fine line between movie musical and movie with music in it. A weak script full of clichés, one too many montage scenes and a rushed third act really might put a damper on this movie, but the little homages to Cabaret (Alan Cummings in a featured cameo for example) and the awesome choreography really help lift the movie past mediocre.

Definitely watch if you love the burlesque style of dance, Christina and Cher, and if not... well you read this far, I think you can safely decide. Or...... you can buy the soundtrack.

Is just one of those great Saturday afternoon movies that i'll stop changing channels to watch no mater how long its been on. Good , fun escapism and how can you go wrong with this cast. I didnt know who Christina was the first time but think she did a good job.

The state of American film in the 21st Century has been generally abysmal but nowhere is it more evident than in the film musical. Taking the most honored of the period Chicago, a Fosse wanta be with bad performances and forgettable tunes as the benchmark it is more than evident all singing all dancing has lost its voice and more than a step. The latest entry and every bit the tepid much ado about nothing heat and light display of flaccid musical storytelling as the Oscar winner (an even bigger comment on the unimaginative state of the movie business) is the insipidly slick Burlesque.

Stop me if you've heard this. Young impressionable girl with massive hidden talent leaves the land of corn for the bright lights of LA where she stumbles upon a run down anachronism with a crusty but understanding owner still in it for love of the game who gives the kid a break and, well you can fill in the rest.

In the role of Judy Garland Christine Aguleria sings the blues with impressive voice but it's all plastic soul and slumming for the former mouseketeer who presents an unintentionally jarring visual context of an Aryan uber babe singing Bessie Smith. Speaking of plastic Cher all polished and waxed like an antique Oldsmobile splits her time offering sage advice and sarcasm. In addition she does a couple of tunes with her signature howl wrapped as always in distracting outfit and opulent stagecraft to soften its blow. There's some male characters whose purpose it seems is to stand around with expressions of awe for the divas and of course the serious pyrotechnics surrounding the noir dance numbers that attempts to put some make-up on this pig but in the end it is all forced Fosse.

When I originally heard of the concept for Steven Antin's Burlesque, a movie musical starring pop phenom Christina Aguilera and the legendary Cher, I was, if you could believe it, less than enthusiastic. I was under the assumption that this film would be not just bad, but god awful. Recalling horrid pop star film debuts (ex. Mariah Carey in the depressingly hollow Glitter, Britney Spears in the mind-numbing Crossroads) I thought I was in for a cinematic train wreck of epic proportions. And I'm happy to tell you today, that I couldn't have been more wrong.

First of all, what makes Burlesque unlike Glitter and Crossroads is its aesthetics. Christina Aguilera's strong voice is enough to carry a film, as it turns out. However, Burlesque has more to fall back on. Cher plays Tess, Aguilera's character's boss and mentor. She can make any film excellent. Secondly, this film is a musical, also unlike Glitter and Crossroads. It shoots for being something of a hybrid between Cabaret and Chicago, and doesn't completely fail. Thirdly, this film has an outstanding supporting cast, including the always great Stanley Tucci, Grey's Anatomy vet Eric Dane, Kristen Bell, Cam Gigandet, and Alan Cumming, and these folks bring enough liveliness to save even the worst film, but here, they only add to the fun and excitement.

The story is really nothing new. Small-town girl Ali (Aguilera) leaves her job as an Iowan waitress, and heads for the big lights of Los Angeles. She stumbles upon a burlesque club run by Tess (Cher), starts working her way up, and eventually becomes the main attraction, with her intense vocal range and elaborate interpretations of dance numbers, which turns out to be a godsend for Tess, who is about to lose her club. She starts living with the charismatic and sexy bartender Jack (Cam Gigandet), after her apartment gets robbed. Romance ensues, and things go from there.

Cliché, right? It's been done before, right? Right. There isn't a section of this film that isn't even a little bit corny. But, that's not to say it's not a load of fun. I'm sorry, Harry Potter, Burlesque is the film event of the Thanksgiving holiday. Christina Aguilera isn't a fantastic actress, but she's better than you would expect her to be, and her song-and-dance numbers, obviously, are fantastic, as one would expect.

She and Cher have fantastic chemistry, as well as Cher and Stanley Tucci. All of these actors blend together so well, that they seem to compliment each other, enhancing each performance. And, I was rather disappointed to see that Cher only sang two out of the film's ten musical numbers, but it's safe to say that that's not enough, considering that she can still belt the hell out of these songs. However, Cher's obvious plastic surgeries don't help her performance, considering that her face barely moves throughout the entire picture, but she's still able to pull this role off, somehow.

Steven Antin is a director whom I've never heard of, however, I was fairly impressed. The film is directed with impeccable taste, and the writing is very quick and clever, and humorous, even when a little corny.

However, what really saves Burlesque in the end is its elaborate song- and-dance numbers. Soon after the movie begins, you know what kind of film you're in for. Even as cliché after cliché presents themselves, Burlesque has enough razzle-dazzle magic to outweigh its faults, and to leave you dancing in the aisles as you leave this film.

Like the name implies, "Burlesque" was lofty, dramatic and musically ambitious. Unlike the name, I think it was too serious to be much of a parody of stage-shows. Cher is an actress, an Academy Award winning actress at that, but there was minimal evidence of intentional self-caricaturing.

A small-town Iowa waitress pursues her dreams and high-tails it to Los Angeles. Ali has way too much audacity for her own good but it does get her a job, two scrumptious boyfriends, and into the burlesque show. Of course it does. Alice, you are in wonderland now. At least when lines like that are delivered by Stanley Tucci they are pretty funny.

The film did have a plot with questions along the lines of: Will Ali realize her dreams of singing and dancing? Will she meet the man of her dreams? And more importantly, will Tess (Cher) save her club from financial ruin? The latter storyline might actually matter if the rest of the film wasn't littered with outlandish sets, costumes and lighting. But "Burlesque" is also what it claims to be—entertaining. Well, mildly entertaining. Christina Aguilera can sing, Cher and Stanley Tucci have good comedic chemistry, and Cam Gigandet is one of the hottest young actors around.

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.

Ali (Aguilera) decides to leave everything behind and go to find some luck in LA. She mets Tess (Cher) owner of a burlesque lounge club, who needs a new, exciting show to keep the place from going down. Here Ali finds a place for herself, and she's becoming the star of the show, thanks to her amazing voice and hard work. Unfortunately fantastic performance by Aguilera is not enough to keep the viewer interested in the story line. The movie feels a bit too much like a concert. The story is quite naive and simple. Over all it's quite a nice and easy movie that you can enjoy with your girlfriends, and a must see for the burlesque lovers.

According to the dictionary, the word "burlesque" is defined as being a variety show characterized by low-comedy and striptease.

Well, (unless there are 2 versions of this movie out there) this version of Burlesque (with its PG-13 rating) contained neither one of these forms of entertainment. (It might have helped if it did)

I guess that the reason behind this film's erroneous and (deliberately) misleading title has something to do with the fact that a word like "burlesque" has a very provocative and enticing sound to it.

From my point of view, I found Burlesque to be, pretty much, an up-dated, carbon-copy of Flashdance and something of a Cabaret-clone, as well, with the distinctive echoes of Dirty Dancing thrown in for good measure.

Burlesque's backstage, backstabbing story was so continually marred by clichés, predictability, dumb dialogue and trite personal dramas that this, in turn, quickly reduced its elaborately staged musical numbers to being nothing more than half-ass fizzle rather than full-throttle sizzle.

And speaking about Burlesque's mega-extravagant musical numbers, (when you clearly see the exterior of the building where they were being staged) you'll be quick to realize that there was absolutely no way on Earth that a dinky, little venue like that could ever possibly house these fantastic, "Vegas"-calibre productions. No way, Jose!

Anyways - Besides the fact that the 64-year-old Cher was never filmed in natural daylight (Gee. I wonder why??), Burlesque really killed me with its pretentious and snooty "I'm-so-classy" attitude.

This picture tried and tired (so earnestly) to firmly establish itself as a real class act. But, hey, once the glitzy trinkets and shiny tinsel got stripped away it was nothing but cheap and petty story-telling right to its very core.