 A lot seemed to be going for Burlesque. Singing sensation of yesteryear, Cher and the dynamic Christina Aguilera together. But the fishnet stockings, the feathers, skimpy outfits and the terrible musical numbers - nothing helps in redeeming Burlesque.
Christina Aguilera plays Ali, a small town girl who heads to the city to follow her dream and seek fame as a dancer. With no family behind her, Ali heads to Los Angeles and the Sunset Strip, where she accidentally comes across the Burlesque Lounge, which is run by Cher. Despite no windows, the club is famous for having the “Best view on Sunset Boulevard” due to its starry, eye-catching performances.
Upon arriving at the club, Ali meets Jack (Cam Gigandet), a bartender who aspires to be a musician, Tess (Cher), the woman behind the Burlesque Lounge and dancing adversary Nikki (Kristen Bell). And so this predictable tale of dancing and singing begins.
Ali doesn’t get the gig instantly so she becomes a waitress, practicing show moves while she waits on tables as Jack looks on in fascination. It takes a while before she impresses Tess but her perky self doesn’t get down too easily. Her jittery enthusiasm is annoying.
Forget Christina’s days of ‘Dirrty’. She looks squeaky clean in the film even as she goes through motions of dancing/singing etc. But nothing works for this terrible, terrible film.
For one thing, the whole thing is predictable. Ali hooking up with Jack and finding stardom as she takes Nikki on and takes her spot… The truth is that Christina Aguilera doesn’t explore her character even slightly. She doesn’t do anything beyond what’s written. As Ali, Christina has no credibility. Is she a farm girl or a diva? Is she naive or just confused all the time? These are some of the questions that come to mind as Christina continues to perform. When pop stars try their hand at acting, it’s a dicey road. Britney tried it and failed. Madonna tried it and failed. The only pop star with any kind of acting credibility these days is Justin Timberlake and that’s only because of Aaron Sorkin’s brilliant screenplay for The Social Network.
Anyway, back to Christina. As Ali, she proves her skills as a singer. Sure, her vocals are explosive and every time she sings, it catches attention. But after a while, even her vocals can’t substitute for the dreadful acting. The nonstop singing just seems like the director’s attempt at prolonging scenes without proper editing.
Cher, meanwhile, shows better acting prowess than Aguilera. As the fiery manager of the Burlesque Lounge who is willing to do anything to save her financially-troubled club, she is watchable. She’s like a mommy to all the girls, helping Ali in putting her makeup on, etc. And she occasionally performs as well in fishnet stockings.
According to stories, Cher came onto to the film reluctantly, squeezing her role to 20 days of shooting instead of 70. There is much gossip about the fact that the film barely pulled through and got made.
There is also Sean, played by Stanley Tucci, and it seems that he is reprising his role from The Devil Wears Prada as the wise gay friend. And unfortunately scenes between Sean and Tess fizzle instead of sizzle.
Ultimately, neither the songs nor the acting and the presence of two stars, Cher and Christina, save this film. It’s really terrible so skip it.
– Maheen Sabeeh
*CINEMATIC SUICIDE
**FORGETTABLE
***WATCHABLE
****COLLECTIBLE
*****AWARD-WORTH |
