It Is What It Is

Rating: 8/10 (27 November 2010)

This movie is exactly what you'd expect, and doesn't try to be much more. It's all about the music, and the main "plot" of the movie almost seems tacked-on, as if the studio realized it couldn't just release a 100-minute film of Christina belting out burlesque tunes. So they threw a story together to pad out the moments between musical numbers.
The plot is pretty transparent, the jokes are fairly obvious, and if I said the words "the club is in financial trouble", you can most likely guess the majority of rest of the movie.
You'll notice earlier I said Christina "belts" out burlesque tunes, and this isn't exaggerating. Strangely, if I have a complaint about Christina's performance, it would be her vocal barrages that sometimes seemed forced. A couple times I wanted to throw my hands up and yell, "Okay, I get it!" The grunt-like "HOOOAAAAHHHHYAHYAHYAHHHHH"s physically made my ears hurt in a couple of places. Don't get me wrong, she DOES have an amazing voice, but it doesn't need to go all the way to eleven all the time. I understand she's passionate about what she's singing. That's fine. But don't beat me over the head with it.
The rest of the cast is excellent. Cher does a remarkable job, and I'd go so far as to say I enjoyed "You Haven't Seen The Last Of Me" more than the majority of Christina's songs, if only because Cher sings that song with more soul and passion than anything Christina does. It's more than Cher's character singing, it's Cher herself, if that makes sense.
Stanley Tucci is perfect as Cher's gay sidekick. The jokes are basically what you'd expect, but that doesn't make the character less charming. Kristen Bell does well with her smallish part. I was surprised and excited to see Alan Cumming's name in the opening credits, and was shocked at how small his role was. Cam Gigandet and Eric Dane are the usual, meaning they're what you'd expect from supporting male characters vying for the affections of the lead female character. One is involved in the only scene in the movie (towards the end) that is almost unbearable in it's "convenience", but it's forgivable given the tone of the rest of the movie.
If you're going to see this movie, just enjoy it for what it is. Don't expect a piece of masterful cinema, don't take it too seriously. Enjoy the music, enjoy the plot for the fluff it is, and if you're a guy seeing it with your wife/girlfriend, enjoy the scantily-clad women.