Burlesque

Steven Antin

The story: Small-town girl Ali (pop singer Christina Aguilera) dreams of making it in the big city at the Burlesque Lounge. But first, she has to convince the owner Tess (Cher) that she can shimmy in her skivvies.

It feels as though writer-director Steven Antin is handling the subject with kid gloves and the sometimes bawdy, sometimes tawdry business comes across as almost wholesome. But in burlesque, the gloves should come off – and then some.

There are at least three songs about the craft here and Cher sings early on: “Show a little more, show a little less, add a little smoke, welcome to burlesque”. But enough with telling us what it is and start showing us already.

Only one number, But I Am A Good Girl, understands that the art of burlesque is in the tease. Ali first appears wearing nothing but strings of pearls and then proceeds to lose her top and tiny pants with a wink and a nudge. Nothing is actually revealed, though, thanks to strategically wielded feathered fans and a carefully positioned mike stand.

Most of the song and dance numbers are glossy, gussied up and briskly efficient affairs that would feel right at home on a Broadway stage or in a music video.

For a more involving and authentic evoking of the world of burlesque, look to the musicals Gypsy and Cabaret instead.

Indeed, Burlesque references Cabaret’s opening number Wilkommen by turning it into Welcome To Burlesque. They have even cast Alan Cumming, feted for his turn as the amoral and sexually ambiguous emcee in the 1993 revival of Cabaret, in a small supporting role here as a cashier and performer.

But the film does not have the stomach to take on the moral ambiguities that the stage musical embraces. It barely has the stomach for any realistic conflict.

Stripped of the razzmatazz of the music sequences and we are left with story-telling of the laziest kind. For example, Ali’s seedy hotel room is conveniently ransacked so that she has to turn to Jack the hunky bartender for help.

There is also some manufactured crisis over the fate of the club which gives Cher an excuse to go all drama-mama but which never feels urgent and is blithely resolved in an unsatisfactory way.

The plotline of the spunky small-town girl with big-time dreams has become a cliche and Antin does nothing to make it fresh or exciting.

When a jealous fellow dancer spits out that Ali has not paid her dues, she is being mean and catty. She is also right. Where is the fun in watching a beautiful and talented girl become successful without meeting with a few bumps along the way? It is hard to root for someone who has it too good.

In her feature film debut, Aguilera is right at home when it comes to singing and dancing and it seems like she could take to acting as well but one would need to see her in a better vehicle to tell.

Cher gets to be Cher and she has the imperious-but-vulnerable routine down pat while her scarily pert cheeks hog the limelight. And Stanley Tucci, as her best bud, does a retread of the gay assistant he played in The Devil Wears Prada (2006).

Burlesque ends up feeling like a patchwork of bits and bobs taken from other works, and unfortunately, it never sheds this cloak of familiarity.

(ST)