Campy spectacular-craptacular. Burlesque is made especially for girls who fantasize about dressing sultry and transforming from rags to riches. For guys, it is a T&A show with more emphasis on airbrushed ass. The essentials: Christina Aguilera is a beautiful blonde babe with the voicebox of an opera house orgy, a love triangle exists with Cam Gigandet and Eric Dane competing for her affections, the dance numbers are bawdy and glitzy, the one-liners sling like bitch slaps, and Cher is like a madam who ordains the fate of every rising dancer in the musical-striptease club. What else? Lots of pink and girls in high heels.
Twenty minutes in, it sustains a zingy, felicitous and campy appeal with bounteous beautiful girls. And less slimy than “Showgirls” which had T&A but no sense of what sexy is. Writer-director Steve Antin, an acquaintance and obvious admirer of The Pussycat Dolls, has a thing for limber girls in bustieres getting twisty on stage. He has an ear for overripe dialogue and uses Stanley Tucci, as a peppy stage manager, to channel fountains of gay humor. But Antin’s plotting is clunky, resulting in an overlong entertainment that bumps, if not grinds, along. The second half in particular doesn’t streamline smoothly, often forgetting characters for chunks at a time and adding subplots that don’t go anywhere.
Aguilera, as Ali Rose, is an Iowa girl working as a waitress at a beat-up café. The first scene has Ali saying goodbye to her shabby existence followed by her first solo number – no café customers, just a movie audience to perform for. Movie moments later, she’s on Hollywood Boulevard browsing through the classifieds for that job that will give her a big break. She stumbles onto The Burlesque Lounge by accident, and within minutes is enthralled and wants on the stage. Cher, as Tess the club owner, doubts her abilities and shoos her away like a stray cat. Ali assumes herself as a waitress ready for a big break.
Kristen Bell and Julianne Hough co-star as the racy dancers, both of them slink into a “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” number lip-synched, unsuspecting that Ali will be the one to take over as the club star because she can sing. Bell, in dyed black hair, is a backstabbing shrew with rather tame backstabbing schemes. Not much gets in the way of true unbridled talent. Ali’s numbers are ready for soundtrack sales, “Show Me How You Burlesque” and “Express” will likely be radio hits for Aguilera.
During Ali’s financial struggles, she crashes the house of bartender Jack (Gigandet), who has a fiancé away in New York. What starts out as friendship soon gets complicated, as Jack falls hard for her but can’t (yet) act on his emotions. Big shot Marcus (Dane) is an entrepreneur with limitless funds and hook-ups, who comes off as a genuine benefactor, who pursues Ali in fast-lane courtship.
Eventually this leads to my least favorite cliché in the movies, and I’ll confess that nothing makes me groan in repulsion when I see it (which in American movies is often). Ali is in bed with her dream guy for the first time. The morning after, the former girlfriend storms in and tries to reclaim her boyfriend. The boyfriend tries to explain to Ali that it was over and not to leave before he explains his intentions and his former girlfriend’s lies. Ali interrupts and disallows any explanation and storms out before the situation is settled. Arrrghh.
“Burlesque” was considered for another audience besides me. Many will get juiced up by its flash, glitz and catchy show tunes. Aguilera has a voice like none other and her body is built for sashay, although her character goes to lovable to diva who forgets her roots and then back to lovable (I didn’t like the diva parts). Cher is the harridan before she becomes the best friend, and she has two shameless but righteously tailored songs. If you were heading to it then you will enjoy it, like cherry truffles. If you were ambivalent about going, then you probably aren’t right for it. It has the I.Q. of Mariah Carey’s “Glitter,” but it’s at least halfway fun to a non-convert of girl movies like me.
Go to the official site at http://www.burlesquethemovie.com/?hs308=BRQ6186
Grade: C+
No comments:
Post a Comment