A funny, traditional feel-good movie musical dazzles

Rating: Null/10 (11 February 2011)

There are plenty of things that are wrong or off with Burlesque. Sometimes it's out of focus, the characters could have been more three- dimensional and its plot could have been more elaborate and original. Yet, "Burlesque" never fails to be entertaining and fun with occasional funny dialog, perfectly choreographed and directed dance and song numbers with a blooming love story in the mix. And there's Cher!
The aim of "Burlesque" is to provide the audience with a sense of feeling good about themselves, with an ease that is hard to express in words. When the story calls for character moments, it's all very sweet and innocent, even if these people wouldn't want to be seen as such. In one scene, Tess (Cher) discovers one of her dancers is pregnant (which opens the door for Christina Aguilera's Ali to assume her place and let her star shine). Tess is a very tough woman, so you'd expect the poor girl to be fired. Instead, Tess promises to take very good care of her and she has nothing to be afraid of.
The kind of sweetness even penetrates the burlesque numbers (no pun intended!). Even though they are very erotic and playful, there is no nudity to be found here. The women enjoy being on stage and dancing burlesque is just like any other job. When the working day is done, you'll go for pizza with your co-workers.
The sweetness is all the more surprising, considering the temptation to go from respectable to pure sexual exposition. Even the one sex scene in the film is about cookies and where to get them, if you'll be in the mood for a bite.
It's just that sweet.