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Burlesque

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Burlesque

Director           Steve Antin
Cast                 Cher, Christina Aguilera, Stanley Tucci, Eric Dane, Cam Gigandet, Peter Gallagher , Kirsten Bell, Julianne Hough, Chelsea Traille, Tanee McCall
Year                2010
Genre              Musical

Spunky is the word that first comes to mind when you watch Burlesque.  First time director Steve Antin (well almost first time since his other video movie didn’t really create waves) gives us an extremely heady mix of jazz put together in a style that can only be described as Coyote Ugly meets Moulin Rouge.  One could choose add a taste of Chicago to it as well but just a dash mind you.  Small town girl aiming to make it to the bright arc lights of Los Angeles.  Spice it up with a couple of affairs.  Add to that 2 of the best voices known to man.  Garnish it with a reasonable story and a feel good ending and voila you have Burlesque.

Alice Rose (the oh so sizzling Christina Aguilera), Ali for short is all starry eyed about song and dance.  She has the voice to make her feel that way.  But she is from Iowa where she works at a local deli.  Fed up with waiting tables – one would automatically be that way if you are not paid for a while – she takes off for LA to do what she really wants to do.  As she is moving from place to place to place she passes by a neon sign that says – Burlesque Lounge.  Intrigued, she walks in to see what it is all about and reluctantly pays the $20 entry fee (she is really short on money right).  And its love at first sight.  She asks the bartender Jack (Cam Gigandet) as to who is in charge and is directed to Tess (Cher).  But Tess doesn’t have the patience to meet some new wannabe starlet and brushes her off.  She sends her to Sean (Stanley Tucci) the arranger who asks her to leave her name and number with Jack again.  Back to square one I guess.

Not willing to give up, Ali uses her charm to get herself a job at Burlesque itself.  Jack is more than willing to accommodate.  At this time, I would like to clarify that Jack is a genuinely nice guy and does not give Ali the job because of the size of her hooters.  A couple of days into the job, Ali comes back to see her house looted.  With nowhere else to go she lands up – no points for guessing – at Jack’s place for help and Jack being the good friend he is, offers her the place for the night.  Till the next morning, Ali thinks Jack is gay but is not too comfortable when she finds out otherwise and that Jack is engaged to be married to Natalie, a struggling actress who spends more time in NY than in LA.  She however stays back because as I said earlier, Jack is a really good guy.

Ali’s efforts to get herself into the main act keep falling flat but her break does come in when one of the dancers, Georgia (Julianne Hough) gets knocked up.  Tess is mighty impressed to see that she has learnt all the dance moves by just being a waitress.  An even big break comes up when the jealous Nikki (Kirsten Bell) decides to pull the DJ plug while Ali is performing.  Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Ali decides to sing and continue with the performance and before you can say Jack Daniels, the show is aligned with her as the star attraction.  All this is however happening with Tess being on the verge of bankruptcy and an aggressive developer, Marcus (Eric Dane) on her back to force her to sell the bar.

If you like all the things that I mentioned earlier in this review then Burlesque is a must must watch.  The soundtrack is a must have too I am definitely going to try and get my hands on it at the earliest.  Cher and Aguilera are both fabulous with their voices although their acting talent can be questioned.  Also, Aguilera can be questioned on her dancing capabilities with most of the supporting cast being much more talented in this aspect.  If, however, you don’t like musicals, then this is definitely not the place to be.  Overall, Burlesque is a well made movie. Not in the class of a Chicago or not remotely as larger than life like Moulin Rouge but an entertainer nevertheless.  6 on 10 is what I would give it.  But watch it on the big screen to feel the experience.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1405094169/
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