It could have been worse!

Rating: 7/10 (17 January 2011)

Small town girl goes to the big city to make it big. Really? Haven't we seen this before? Well of course we have, but we've never been on this journey with Cher! Christina Aguilera plays the small town girl, who makes her way to L.A. to make it big. She lands in the Burlesque club run by Tess (Cher) and starts to wait tables while trying desperately to let Tess give her a go on stage. Meanwhile she shacks up as friends with barman Jack and befriends property developer who has his sights on the club.
Of course Tess does give her a job and everyone is astounded at her talent and the club thrives. Along the way Ali, treads on toes, gets heartbroken and becomes something of a star, while then discover the true meaning of Marcus's interests and therefore saving the club and helping Tess (mother figure!!) and the romance with Jack can blossom. Hurrah! The films story is pretty standard; small town girl, the young handsome barman who also writes songs (lets hope Ali get to sing one!) the divaesque star of the club who's limelight is stolen and the charming, but obviously has something else planned man. But despite all this the film rolls along very merrily and is really quite entertaining. Set mostly in the club, the director may have watched films like Moulin Rouge, Cabaret, Dreamgirls or Chicago before walking on set, but there is a great visual style to it with well staged musical numbers which are quite catchy, with only the slow ballads being a bit cheesy. Perhaps the burlesque element is a little bit of a modern interpretation, with only a feather fan number alluded to traditional burlesque, but that aside the musical numbers make the flow of the film move well.
Aguilera is quite good as Ali, though it's not a big step away from her normal performing persona. Cher of course is Cher and doesn't really have to do anything, she's just great; there are two handsome lead male characters and while it seems Stanley Tucci came from the set of The Devil Wears Prada still in character, he is fun on screen and there is a nice relationship between him and Cher.
The film never really goes anywhere and the plot is painfully obvious, but it also never becomes too serious and the issues are light in their nature with only a brief foray into the a story about drinking. In fact the film is quite good fun, with some nice moments throughout, such as when Ali arrives at Sean's apartment only to find a male guest with neither of them remembering each others name.
Not as bad as Showgirls, but without as much style or drama of Moulin Rouge or Cabaret, this is still an enjoyable romp that's a lot of fun.
More of my review at my site iheartfilms.weebly.com