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Sunday, November 28, 2010

MOVIE REVIEW 
Burlesque
Please.  I Can.  Please!  Let Me Dance!  Watch Me Move!


Let's dance: Christina Aguilera as Ali in Steven Antin's "Burlesque". 
Screen Gems/Sony

by Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com        Follow popcornreel on Twitter FOLLOW
Sunday, November 28, 2010

Sexy, sassy and entertaining, "Burlesque" is a colorful, vivacious musical drama that wins over its audience with an assortment of goose-bump moments and infectious energy.  Steven Antin's natty-looking film is filled with good dance music and scintillating production design.

The bright lights of Los Angeles beckon Ali (Christina Aguilera) away from her small-town Kentucky domicile.  She has no one there to call family, but does have the sheer enthusiasm to dance her behind off, which gets her to the City of Angels and "the best view on the strip", 8083 Sunset Boulevard.  Ali's passion and eagerness convince Burlesque Lounge club owner Tess (Cher) to give Ali a shot at the big time, much to the chagrin of the Lounge's established dancer Nikki (Kristen Bell).  The club will be tested by internal and external forces that could be too much for all involved.

What isn't too much is the dedication of Mr. Antin and company to bringing a distinct visual flair and vigor to an otherwise modest and unremarkable movie.  "Burlesque" is a film that can be enjoyed by all audiences, even if more than a few parts of the director's screenplay are weak and filled with convenient melodramatic moments that don't work.  Style overpowers the film's substance but not its ambitions.  "Burlesque" represents songstress Christina Aguilera's coming out party on the big screen, and she delivers her sizable talents effortlessly in a film tailor-made for her.  She's listed as the film's executive music director, but she does so much more than that, bringing a strong presence, charisma, smarts and sex appeal.

"Burlesque" nods to gay-glam icons like Cher, who presides over the film adorably, and to films and musicals like Bob Fosse's "Cabaret" (Alan Cumming appeared in the Broadway musical stage revival in 1998, and has a small role here.)  There's an invisible yet distinct line of generational glam-pop hierarchy represented, with Cher in pole position and Madonna (whose song "Ray Of Light" plays in the film.)  Whether Ms. Aguilera is intended as the latest descendant of that lineage remains to be seen (or is it Lady Gaga?), but you can't be blamed if you envision Madonna as you watch Ms. Aguilera's showwomanship gain steam in "Burlesque".


Madonna revisited?: Christina Aguilera as Ali during a musical number in Steven Antin's "Burlesque".  Screen Gems/Sony

Mystifying, however, is the film's snickering at its mind games where the sexual orientation of some characters is concerned.  Two scenes are seemingly created solely to play on the audience's presumptions and not on advancing the story.  I'm not sure if that's intentional, but "Burlesque" may either be a shade uncomfortable with its depiction of homosexuals or feels a level of tension within.  One aspect of the film's weakness is that while it's sometimes focused, the film occasionally becomes unglued by stereotypes that would be better shunned for the sake of the story.  You get the feeling that more mature films would have bypassed the jokes and just presented its affairs without having to wink at them, especially in a film that purports to take itself seriously as a drama.

"Burlesque" has an array of characters, many of them underdeveloped.  I would have liked to have seen more from Glynn Turman, who has a very brief appearance as a legendary entertainer.  The film however, features good work from Stanley Tucci, adept at playing the role of the avuncular male or flamboyant stalwart best friend.  Mr. Tucci ("The Lovely Bones", "Easy A") has often done so (including in "The Devil Wears Prada"), yet makes it fresh and funny each time.  There are other characters who arise from nowhere at all, springing forth from behind a metaphorical curtain.  They too add to the film's predictable outcome.

Mr. Antin's film could have been shorter -- it's almost two hours long -- but it nails two of the world's oldest variables: show and business.  The saying goes that show business is 90% business and 10% show, but "Burlesque" more than turns that axiom on its head.  Here it's 100% show, and despite its many flaws it sparkles.  You'll be dancing inside, even if you have two left feet.

With: Cam Gigandet, Peter Gallagher, Eric Dane, Julianne Hough, Chelsea Traille, Terrence Jenkins, Dianna Agron, Tanee McCall, David Walton, plus a cameo appearance.

"Burlesque" is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association Of America for sexual content including several suggestive dance routines, partial nudity, language and some thematic material.  The film's running time is one hour and 57 minutes. 

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