From Great to WTF?

Rating: 6/10 (1 December 2010)

The first half of this film struck me as a pleasant throw back to the classic movie musicals of old. A familiar structure, where a love story is set at a theatre which gives the film its excuses to perform the musical numbers. It was refreshing NOT to see yet another Broadway show brought to the big screen. All the performances were solid and Christina Aguilera's freshman effort was particularly note worthy.
Then the wheels fall off (Another example where a writer/director needs a second pair of objective eyes taking a pass at their script before shooting begins). The second half almost literally looses its identity. The love story is well set up with effective dramatic tensions between the two reluctant lovers and the rival suitor. Then it is inexplicably abandoned for a sub-plot about Tess loosing her club. Suddenly the club becomes the focus for the climax, WHY?! The resolution of that particular problem was clever, but it turned the whole love story into some sort of well written / performed McGuffin, which annoyed this viewer and was such a dis-service to the performances of Aquilera, Gigandet and Dane.
The second half musical numbers were glorified music videos that paled in comparison to the outstanding staged numbers earlier in the film. The only redemption to this lack of imagination was the amazing closing number that resurrected that classic "show" style we saw at the beginning. What made these music video offerings palatable was Aguilera's outstanding stage performances. Something she is very comfortable with.
I am not sure why Kristen Bell was brought in to play Nikki. Yes she did a great job, but such talent was largely wasted in a peripheral role that was barely fleshed out. Later in the film we surprisingly find out that Nikki had been a long time friend to Tess and with her from the beginning of the club's opening. Yet that idea rang very hollow when one considers Cher's age compared to Bell's.
Beware of the "DRUNK CAM"!! It was most noticeable during the heavy dialogue scenes in Tess's office and in the parking lot scene between Nikki and Tess. Whoever convinced Antin that giving the audience the POV of a drunken dwarf was a good idea should have been FIRED! What a distracting and annoying bit of camera work that was. Why would anyone deliberately distract the audience from the action in a scene with a bobbing and weaving camera??
Christina gave us a strong sense that she can act and with more training and experience, I think she will become a talent worth seeing. She might wish to take the route Justin Timberlake has taken with his acting. Take on smaller roles to build up experience and get exposure to more seasoned actors . Build up a strong skill set before taking on a lead role again. This film played to her strengths, but if she is serious about acting she needs to further develop her craft to be capable of doing a variety of roles with convincing depth.
For a film to start out so well and crash so dramatically by the climax is a bit of a tragedy in my opinion. The set up was nearly flawless, the love story well thought out (though not perfect) and paced, early musical numbers were very entertaining, but the final act left the audience feeling cheated with an impotent conclusion to the dominant love story and a confusing focus switch to Tess's business troubles.
After seeing her performance, I hope Ms.Aguilera continues her acting pursuits as I believe she would do well if she further trains and gains experience in the craft.