Strong actors, promising predictable story...all of it tanks into the ground in a dancing heaping mess

Rating: Null/10 (23 August 2011)

Burlesque actually looked promising to me. I like musicals, I like movies about dance, I like the concept of a struggling young artist come to make it big (Coyote Ugly, Showgirls) okay maybe not Showgirls. But Showgirls is actually exactly what I could compare Burlesque to most, minus the adult content. The most disappointing thing about Burlesque is there is some really great actors that are totally wasted. The choreography for a dance film, with two incredibly talented performers, is ridiculous and almost near boring which is just sad and wasted. The characters are almost entirely vapid and empty and if it weren't for the charisma that the three main characters bring to the screen just by being there this would be a huge stinker and a whopping zip out of ten. But because I just couldn't give such a horrible score to the likes of Cher and Tucci. Still even little girls looking for glitz and glam can't find much of anything to hang on to in this. It is a mess and you will see why reviews and theatre performance was so bad.
Christina Aguilera in her debut big screen role is Ali, the young and headstrong singer/dance that wants to be the title role in the Burlesque show that enamours her. There is nothing wrong per se with her acting ability. I think her character was written with very little depth other than the obvious. I think its unfortunate because she probably has some acting ability. Academy Award Winner, the legendary Cher should be perfect as the head of the show, a sassy, and jaded club owner. Again...no depth. You can list her characters qualities on one hand. She is still luminescent on screen because...well...she's Cher. Stanley Tucci as usual steals his scenes as Cher's best friend and business partner. Tucci is just such an incredible actor, he can make any role seem better than it is. This is no exception. Peter Gallagher also has a really good role in the film that actually has a little bit of depth but he is way underused but he does a good job with what he is given. The stunning beauty but utterly boring in this film Julianne Hough plays one of the dancers, Georgia. The supporting cast especially the Burlesque girls are utterly wasted and pointless. That's unfortunate too given they hired girls with actual names like Glee's Dianna Agron, and Kristen Bell.
So who is to blame for this potential filled but utterly wasted mess? Director and writer Steve Antin is not a long time professional. He has a few credits to his name but certainly nothing substantial. I think maybe his screenplay lacked depth and he just missed a lot of key emotional elements. How he, or the studio, got the likes of the above actors to join this is a mystery...especially Cher. I have to keep going back to her because she has done some brilliant acting roles (my personal favourite is Mermaids.) This is her first significant role in ten years and she followed it up as the voice of an animal in Zookeeper...what you doing Cher? After this you're gonna wanna turn back time. This will also put a roadblock up against Christina Aguilera's acting career and I just don't think that's fair because this script was not good for anyone. Steer clear of this wreck because there is very little redeemable qualities about it. 4/10