Aguilera's brilliant pick of the role in Burlesque to showcase herself in a real Hollywod feature film. BRAVO

Rating: 9/10 (2 March 2011)

I liked the movie very much so I'll make an valiant effort to sound unbiased. The movie is first and foremost a musical and no attempts to deny that or pass it off as anything but that is appreciated. It is or should be a prime selling point: A musical featuring Christina Aguilera.
The necessary sub-plots do the job adequately and no one will take the drama and romance by-lines for anything more than what they are. Actors like Stanley Tucci, Alan Cumming, Peter Gallagher and James Brolin do not have major roles in this movie and have received lesser billing, Cumming certainly less than Tucci. These are the kind of pros who add quality and value; to the connaisseurs, such names add credibility to the rest of an inexperienced cast. I do not include in the lesser experienced group the likes of CHER nor that of Christina Aguilera obviously. They are both accomplished performers in the same field, which is 'any stage'.
I would like to draw as many parallels to the 1972 musical Cabaret as I could, but I do not write reviews in any formal or official capacity and the right words at this moment fail me in that respect. I will however say that there are close parallels in my opinion such as the same club intimacy feeling, the same artistic professionalism on the part of the musicians, dancers and singers and clearly the artistic family spirit.
I would stop short the comparing 'Burlesque' to other recent good musicals such as Chicago, Idlewild or Dreamgirls. I especially enjoyed 'Idlewild' and mention it in passing because it unfairly did not receive as high a praise and ratings; it certainly did not benefit from the promotional resources of the other two yet it had assuredly the most original storyline of all and excellent musical numbers.
The younger audience should favour Burlesque over Cabaret and vice versa for the older crowd, but each will without hesitation grant the same nod of approval to the movies, 39 years apart in the making.
Christina Aguilera acquitted herself superbly in the strong lead character and Cher may surprise some of you as she did me in her major supporting role. Let's not kid ourselves as to who was lead and who was second fiddle. I was delighted by the relation between the two characters. I sincerely hope I have, as many other reviewers have, helped convince you to see it.
The soundtrack album should be a welcome addition to any Aguilera fan; it gets plenty of play on my sound system.