Struggles to find a consistent tone and pace, but has great musical sequences, and a likable cast.

Rating: 5/10 (20 January 2011)

It's not a perfect musical, but for it's momentary time, it proves to be a fun diversion.
The film centers on an Iowa girl named Ali (Played by Christina Aguilera), who ditches her old life to chase stardom in L.A. Whilst there, she stumbles across a worn down Burlesque club run by a retired dancer named Tess (Played with relish by Cher). Ali, the headstrong career chaser she is, eventually gets a job at the club, and proves to be a dynamite singer, often getting on the wrong side of one of the club's main dancers, Nikki (Played by Kristen Bell), but the club is currently in danger of being closed down due to Tess's struggles to pay the bills for the club.
The film takes obvious influence from it's more mature cousins, Chicago and Moulin Rouge (Right down to the bling-bling costumes, saucy choreography, and fast beat music), but the film's first half is more than sublime enough for fans of those two movies, if only the second half had done a little better. The film has a tendency to drag, and to feel contrived, but it's cast is enough reason to keep watching. Aguilera is clearly cast more for her voice than her acting chops (Which are actually better than expected), and it must be intimidating for any of the cast members to have to hold their ground against standout, Cher, a cast that also includes Stanley Tucci, Cam Gigandet and Alan Cumming.
Oh, and as for the musical numbers, they're right up to par. They're decorated with shining, and lovely costumes and sets, and the accompanying lyrics and music, meshed together with the fast choreography should be enough to satisfy the fan of the musical genre. The movie specifically comes equipped with a beautiful ballad performed by Cher, and written by Diane Warren, that is by far and away one of the year's very best original songs. It's just such a shame that the film can't find a consistent tone.
Burlesque is certainly not a good movie, but I enjoyed it enough to give it ** out of ****