Will we believe in life after Cher?

Rating: 5/10 (20 November 2012)

Will we be strong enough and be able to turn back time to remember a time without the ageless diva who made it big, not only in music, but on television, on Broadway (in a play, not a musical) and in movies? Yes, Cher is not as active in movies as she was when she shot to the legend of cinema goddesses winning an Oscar for "Moonstruck", but her legendary status has not diminished with age. When I talk with people from age 15-85, they all say one person embellishes it all in the world of entertainment, and that is Cher. You can praise Barbra, Liza, Ms. Ross, the Divine Ms. M, Madonna, etc., and I adore (most) of these ladies. But there is only one who touches each generation, every race and nationality without reluctance.
Now that I've gushed, I must confess that I went into this movie with mixed feelings, and I came out of it a bit surprised. No, this is no classic, and I can honestly say that in my 25 years of living in Los Angeles, there is no club on the Sunset Strip that represents the club that Cher owns here. The club is more Crenshaw Blvd. than Sunset Blvd., the strip loaded with its expensive restaurants, comedy clubs, rock clubs and strip joints (mostly towards downtown). This is more valley than city, but like "Connie and Carla", another favorite of mine, I look beyond its misrepresentation of what it shows L.A. to be.
Christine Aguilera really surprised me by what a natural actress she is- likable, not at all annoying, and someone you root for. She is Ruby Keeler of "42nd Street" in leather and lace, with Cher the Warner Baxter putting on the show and Kristen Bell a younger version of Bebe Daniels, the star who is always late (and usually drunk). Cher tells her to go ahead and "Spend the rest of your life pouring vodka on your Cherrios". She is also the den mother to the girls, reminding Bell of how many nights she held her head over the toilet so the poor girl wouldn't drowned in her own vomit.
When Cher breaks into "Welcome to Burlesque", I cringe at the thought that this multi-talented woman has never stepped foot onto the Broadway stage into a musical, and it took this standard story (beefed up for modern times) to allow her to sing in a movie. Any flagging Broadway show would be lucky to rush her into the cast so she could strut herself. Cher in "Mamma Mia" as Donna, anyone? I found Aguilera's persistence at getting a job at the bar so amusing, her gall both perplexing and pleasing to the deep-down gold-hearted Cher who is so afraid of loosing her club that her distraction by the younger girl ultimately wins her over.
Eric Dane, as the bartender who befriends Aguilera and takes her in may seem to some to be like a Chelsea boy than the sweet heterosexual man he plays, but I think that had more to do with his bartender costuming and the overabundance of showing off his body than anything else. Peter Gallagher, Stanley Tucci and Cam Gigandet give fine supporting performances, but I wanted to see much more of Alan Cumming as the door man with more than just a passing resemblance to his "Cabaret" emcee. The Golden Globe Winning "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" is Cher's big 11:00 number, and may not have the greatest lyrics, but in the way Cher performs it, the result is unforgettable.
I've heard people call this the L.A. "Show Girls" and an updated "Valley of the Dolls", but it actually offers some intelligence, especially with its denouncement that does what a musical is supposed to do-be triumphant.