Lofty, dramatic and musically ambitious, but also obvious, lame, and mildly entertaining

Rating: 4/10 (10 March 2011)

Like the name implies, "Burlesque" was lofty, dramatic and musically ambitious. Unlike the name, I think it was too serious to be much of a parody of stage-shows. Cher is an actress, an Academy Award winning actress at that, but there was minimal evidence of intentional self-caricaturing.
A small-town Iowa waitress pursues her dreams and high-tails it to Los Angeles. Ali has way too much audacity for her own good but it does get her a job, two scrumptious boyfriends, and into the burlesque show. Of course it does. Alice, you are in wonderland now. At least when lines like that are delivered by Stanley Tucci they are pretty funny.
The film did have a plot with questions along the lines of: Will Ali realize her dreams of singing and dancing? Will she meet the man of her dreams? And more importantly, will Tess (Cher) save her club from financial ruin? The latter storyline might actually matter if the rest of the film wasn't littered with outlandish sets, costumes and lighting. But "Burlesque" is also what it claims to be—entertaining. Well, mildly entertaining. Christina Aguilera can sing, Cher and Stanley Tucci have good comedic chemistry, and Cam Gigandet is one of the hottest young actors around.