Christina Aguilera and Kristen Bell enjoy the sexiest costumes, the flashiest dance numbers and the overall spotlight treatment throughout director Steven Antin's gyrating musical "Burlesque.” But there’s no stopping Cher, who at 64 still outshines her young co-stars when it comes to charisma, comic timing, and likeability. Cher is a Vegas headliner extraordinaire for good reason and it's fun to see her sass back on-screen after an extended break from movies.
Surprisingly, Antin, who co-wrote the screenplay with “Juno” scribe Diablo Cody and three other writers, keeps Cher on the sidelines and focuses on Aquilera, Bell and their various outfits including sequined mini-dresses, black leather fetish wear and an extra skimpy costume resembling a bikini made of pearls. Antin can be forgiven for his obsession with young women in showgirl clothes. After all he’s the director of the TV series “Pussycat Dolls Present.” By letting Cher waste away on the sidelines and not giving the showbiz veteran a musical number worthy of her talents, Antin allows “Burlesque” to slowly lose its razzle-dazzle. Why hire a Diva to headline your movie if you’re not going to let her sparkle?
“Burlesque” may appear sexy in a “Maxim” photo spread kind of way but it's also an old fashioned story about a small-town girl from Iowa named Ali (Aguilera) who moves to Los Angeles to become a singing star but ends up dancing in a burlesque club operated by Cher's character Tess and her loyal stage manager Sean (Stanley Tucci).
Subplots include a smug real estate developer (Eric Dane) who wants the club property in order to build a high rise, a relationship between Ali and the club’s handsome bartender who’s also an aspiring songwriter (Cam Gigandet) and sabotage from the club’s former star dancer (Bell) but none of them matter next to Aguilera’s musical numbers.
Aguilera settles comfortably into the part of trailer park girl with her ponytail, hoop earrings and a Barbie doll figure. Once in L.A. the pop star also belts every musical number and tackles each moment of melodrama with gushing enthusiasm. Yet she’s missing that spark necessary to hold a feature film afloat for 119 minutes. Listen to Aguilera’s rendition of “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend” and you’ll long for Nicole Kidman’s version in “Moulin Rouge.” Actually, watch the first half of “Burlesque” and you’ll wish for standout musicals like “Moulin Rouge,” “Chicago,” “Nine,” or “Mamma Mia” to magically appear on-screen.
To the credit of Antin and his ensemble of writers including co-writer Cody (who has first-hand experience of working in a burlesque club), “Burlesque” is no showbiz disaster in the mold of the notorious stripper pole drama “Showgirls.” It’s just music video mediocre but with so few musicals being made these days, fans want each one to dazzle.
A more interesting male lead, one who sings like Ewan McGregor in “Moulin Rouge,” would have breathed more life into the story. Alan Cumming borrows his wardrobe from the acclaimed stage revival of “Cabaret” but is not given a chance to really shine with his own musical number.
It's funny. Burlesque is a musical filled with beautiful women in erotic costumes and its main defect is a lack of a good man.
Antin, choreographers Denise Faye and Joey Pizzi and music supervisor Buck Damon also fumble badly placing the film squarely on Aguilera’s shoulders and leaving Cher out of the spotlight.
“Burlesque” is a movie in need of a couple more showstopper musical numbers and nobody delivers showstoppers like Cher.
Three Stars
Distributor: Screen Gems
Director: Steven Antin
Scriptwriter: Susannah Grant, David A. Newman, Keith Merryman, Steven Antin, Diablo Cody
Editor: Virginia Katz
Cinematographer: Bojan Bazelli
Cast: Cher, Christina Aguilera, Kristen Bell, Cam Gigandet, Stanley Tucci, Alan Cumming, Eric Dane, Julianne Hough, Peter Gallagher, Blair Redford, Wendy Benson-Landes, David Walton
Production Designer: Jon Gary Steele
Music Supervisor: Buck Damon
Producers: De Line Pictures
Running Time: 119 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: November 24, 2011