Burlesque

Watching Burlesque made me feel again like the 14 year old girl I once was who wore out the soundtrack to Caberet trying to learn all the lyrics. I was so intrigued by the music, style and sex appeal of what I was watching that I felt like Christina Aguilera does in the movie when she discover burlesque for the first time. Owned by Cher who is dealing with financial problems, Christina’s Ali finds the nightclub shortly before Cher’s Tess may lose it. Tess’ ex-husband, (Peter Gallagher) is pressuring her to sell. And a successful real-estate mogul (Eric Dane) is making her a very attractive offer. But Tess loves her club and her girl’s are her family. She refuses to sell and is looking for another way out.

Ali has just moved to L.A. from the mid-west and wants to make it as a singer and dancer. She is lured into to the theatre by the music and a costumed girl she sees in the alley. When she watches the girls perform their act her imagination takes flight. These songs are sexy without being lewd and the costumes are suggestive without being crude. It is all about the promise of naughtiness while maintaining the guise of innocence. It is fun, flirty, alluring and hot. Full of double entendres and bawdiness, burlesques is a very specific genre and an art. Ali was hooked and just had to be a part of it.

To break into the club Ali makes friends with the bartender Jack (Cam Gigandet) who gives her an intro and an opportunity to meet Tess. But Tess is so self-involved with her money problems that she won’t even pay attention to her. So Ali settles for a waitressing job and looks for another way in. She watches everything like a hawk, learns the dances and studies about burlesque at home. With knowledge comes confidence and Ali will soon have her chance. She has the voice and she has the moves. All she needs is a break.

Unlike Caberet, this plot line does not have the social and political background of pre-war Germany to give it a serious and weighty edge, but it is enough to hold the musical together. And that is what makes this movie so good, the lights, the music, the dancing, the sex. Burlesque is pure entertainment and if Christina Aguilera wasn’t already a star, this movie would make her one. There are numbers and then more numbers and after that all you want is more. My only complaint is that I could have used more Cher and Alan Cumming. Alan Cumming was born for burlesque and it’s too bad he couldn’t have had a bigger role. Also in the running for more screen time is Stanley Tucci. He plays Cher’s gay best friend and I love him in everything he does.

I honestly went into this film with very modest expectations and now I am a huge fan. The costumes were awesome, the dancers were fantastic and Christina really has a marvelous voice. I even found Cam Gigandet quite adorable and Kristen Bell is also good as the star whose drinking problem gets in the way. The script avoids the usual melodrama and allows the musical numbers to speak for themselves. If I was still that 14 year old girl I would be heading off to the music store to make my buy. Spotlight please, I’m ready for my solo, “Welcome to Burlesque”.

Rating: First Run If she wasn’t already a star this film would make her one.