Burlesque Movie Review …

As excited as I was to see Burlesque, I feel obligated to let you know that the Burlesque version of “burlesque” is the PG-13 version of burlesque. You know, know nudity and no stripteases. All of this aside, Burlesque was a truly enjoyable time at the movies.

The tale isn’t all that original; a small town girl goes to the big city with big dreams of making it…big. In Burlesque, the small-town girl is Ali Rose (Aguilera), a waitress itching to show off her vocal cords on a big stage. Fresh off a bus from Iowa, Ali enters the “Burlesque Lounge” and is mesmerized watching Tess (Cher) perform.

As these tales tend to go, the “Burlesque Lounge” is no longer in its prime, so to speak, and an entrepreneur named Marcus Gerber (Dane) is eager to see condos rise from the ashes of the “Burlesque Lounge”. Without a brand new act (with a big voice, perhaps?) the “Lounge” may soon close. The audience will have to wait a little bit longer to hear Aguilera’s golden pipes since Ali is first hired as cocktail waitress at the Lounge.

When I heard that Cher and Christina Aguilera were teaming up, I was genuinely excited although skeptical of Aguilera’s acting abilities. Nothing ruins a musical more than actors who can’t sing or singers that can’t act, and Aguilera shone through as an eager ingénue. But, I digress.

Inside the “Burlesque Lounge” we meet a cast of misfits that you’d expect to find working at a burlesque. Tess’s husband Vince (Gallagher) co-owns the club and is already counting the money from the sale of the “Burlesque Lounge”. We also meet stage manager Sean (Tucci) who likes men, except that one night in Reno or Lake Tahoe, I’ll tell ya which it is when Tess remembers!

The star of the “Burlesque Lounge” is Nikki (Bell) who is stereotypically angry and troubled, and according to Ali, looks “like a drag queen.” If you haven’t guessed it yet, Nikki is quite jealous of Ali and lets her know every chance she gets. Then there’s Jack (Gigandet), the hot straight bartender who wears eyeliner. Jack takes a liking to Ali and encourages her to pursue her newfound dream of burlesque dancing & singing. Inside the “Burlesque Lounge,” Ali finds a friend in featured dancer and all around nice gal, Georgia (Hough).

The meat & potatoes of Burlesque, the singing and dancing was great as expected. Cher looks and sounds as good as she did 25 years ago, and Aguilera’s voice always delivers. The musical numbers are just as you’d expect in a musical titled Burlesque; they are elaborate dance routines with far more dancers than a small cabaret stage can hold and the costumes are shiny and bright and gaudy…beautiful!

What would any small town girl makes it in the big city tale would be complete without a little romance? Bartender and fellow musician Jack allows Ali to sleep on his couch, but they never do the deed because he’s already spoken for—well that and the fact that this is a Disney version of burlesque. But there’s just enough sexual tension and gyrating to make you feel as though something steamy happened.

Burlesque is a musical film and if you aren’t a fan of musicals then you probably won’t like it. If however you enjoy a few unrealistic impromptu song and dance routines, you’ll enjoy Cher and Xtina in Burlesque. The film is centered around the strengths of both leads—performing on stage—and the ladies do a wonderful job and complement each other nicely.

Cher along with most of the supporting cast put in very solid performances in a film where acting chops aren’t demanded. Aguilera is charming and engaging in the first half of Burlesque, before she becomes a big shot. As a star, she reverts to the uninteresting and vain version of celebrity.

The orphan rags-to-riches tale in Burlesque isn’t unique, but it doesn’t pretend to be. If you’re looking for a Broadway quality production, Burlesque isn’t it. If however you’re looking for a fun few hours packed with song and dance routines from two of the most outrageous divas of the last 2 generations, the Burlesque will leave you with a smile on your face.

Burlesque Movie Trailer

First we have Julia Child (Meryl Streep) a “high-spirited” American wife, who’s following her diplomat husband in Paris (Stanley Tucci – you know him from The Devil Wears Prada, where they acted together). Bored to death she decides to go to some classes. Bridge seems too complicated for her, while the cooking class for the beginners is really annoying “I know how to boil an egg” she says, asking to be moved to the advanced class. There she’s the only woman among male chefs, who really know their business.

After getting her feathers ruffled a bit, she comes home decided to change the situation. It’s one of the funniest scenes in the movie, she’s cutting onions (there’s a huge pile on the table) and her husband enters the home almost suffocating. Funny or not, she manages to catch up and becomes one of the best students in the class.

She then is invited to cooperate for a cooking book writing, then she’ll be the one to publish it – Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Meryl Streep is an excellent actress and seems to have found her funny side too, the only issue I had with the performance was that the “high-spirited” Julia seemed on drugs. First I thought she’s suffering from the Tourette Syndrome, the way she was speaking and moving. It looks like she’s not sick, not even on heavy drugs or too much Scotch (this was my second guess). So I do believe they could have toned it down, it’s almost clinical. Other than that, Tucci with Streep make a great team once again (it does seem like they got used to each other from the previous movie).

On the other hand we have Julie Powell (Amy Adams), who’s got a sinisterly boring job as a telephone call-taker in a cubicle, dealing with insurance questions after the tragic 9/11. She does feel she’s “really” a novelist, but was never able to actually finish something she’s started. So the project is to cook all the recipes from Julia’s book in one year time. And document this in a blog. 524 recipes in 365 days, all the cooking done in the evenings, when she’s coming home.

Though Paul (Julie‘s husband) is very supportive, Eric (Julie‘s husband) is getting annoyed after a while with her new passion. She does become utterly obsessed, forgetting than in the end it’s not such a huge deal. They live in a stinky apartment in a sordid house in Queens (NYC), one of those “all made of wood panels shacks” Americans like to call “houses” (in my country our houses are made from bricks and concrete – even the interior walls, so you can understand my opinion). Anyway, there are houses made “properly” in New York City too, but the 2 cannot afford rent in a better one. Interesting enough, she can afford all the groceries for her cooking undertaking.

The entire movie has its funny side, it’s very relaxing and a pleasant experience. Meryl Streep is adorable as usual, even if she seems high on something, while Amy Adams offers a cute version for the young chef-blogger. For such a Streep fan as I am, this is a “gotta see it” movie, but it’s a good one for you too. So, it’s totally recommended.

And still Meryl was in the movie, so I had to see it.

The movie starts very relaxing. I did have a good feeling about it from second 1. The music was entertaining (not a fan of pop, but the songs were WELL CHOSEN), the scenes pretty entertaining. It started as a nice beautiful movie and it stayed the same.

We have Anne Hathaway playing the role of a young graduate from “the country” who’s trying to start a journalism career in New York. Has no interest in anything fashion related and dresses even worse than I do. Her BF is training as a chef while she’s trying desperately to find some sort of a job.

And she finds it.

One of the most important magazines in fashion is called Runway (doh, pretty inspiring) and is run by the “nazi” like editor in chief Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep). As you can imagine our young talent gets her “behind” handed to her in some epic verbal fights with Miranda, who’s amazingly polite and decent and kills with her eyes and words at the same time.

I don’t recall seeing Meryl Streep look so sexy in her entire career. They “aged” her (she’s having grey hair), but she’s looking absolutely stunning. I kinda see another Cruella DeVil in her, except she’s not obsessed with fur and has a better mental state than the character Glenn Close brings to life.

Everyone is afraid of her and she’s getting the “pet-name” of dragon lady. As you can guess she’s the villain in the movie and the lifestyle she has is “bad”. The little journalist has to sacrifice her relation and beliefs to work for Runway and can’t wait to escape the “terror”. This is where I stop understanding where they’re going with the plot. Let’s focus …

She’s a young casual dressed woman. Of course she has to start caring about fashion and dress better than you’d dress to walk your dogs. Tough. I have “corporate” friends who hate elegant outfits just as I do, but wear suits. Because you can’t go to the bank in your every-day clothes. So, I fail to understand her drama. You’re working for a fashion magazine, you dress like it.

Then we have the career problem. Her BF is mad she’s missing his birthday (imagine the importance of such galactic event). Again, tough. My sister in law is a doctor. I can’t count the birthdays, Christmas dinners, Easter dinners etc. her family spent without her. Did her husband divorce? Not as far as I can recall it. My BF worked all day long as a civil engineer. Even worked in another part of the country or another country altogether. Did I leave him? Nope.

So, careers sometimes do require a sacrifice. So, his entire attitude kinda .. blows, if you allow me.

And let’s see this “dragon lady” Miranda Priestly, who’s so feared and evil. She is running a HUGE business. She is the one setting the tone in fashion (designers don’t show their creations publicly till she’s giving the OK). There’s millions of dollars at stake, hundreds (if not more) employees a huge brand to be kept successful. She cannot succeed if she’s lazy or “cute”. You cannot be an amazingly successful business woman and be a “doll”.

Andrea “Andy” Sachs on the other hand needs to grow up in my opinion. You get a difficult, but with great potential job. Amazingly, once you stop whining, you can even get better at it. No, forgive me, GOOD. So good, you’re now in the “first league” together with your boss. And you still fall on your back amazed to see how much drama is between coleagues and how people stab each others in the back. Well, flash-news: it happens EVERYWHERE.

The end for me at least is weird. I cannot understand why would we like to think about such a career in a bad way. It’s a lot of hard work, but you are there, in the top. Instead of going along and working at the Runway, once she’s Miranda’s right hand, she chooses to work as a “journalist” at a newspaper or something. I’ve worked in the media for 10 years, there’s nothing fancy about this. Or maybe it’s in the USA and I am not getting it.

Overall the movie was EXCELLENT. It was very dynamic, I can’t remember a moment of dull action, the situations were comic and every time I watched again (have seen it for 8 times I think) I was able to discover something new about it. I do recommend it with all my heart, since it’s been a well spent hour and a half. You will laugh, see some “cool” images and of course meet an amazingly looking Meryl Streep, doing an amazing role.