Picture, if you will, Christina Aguilera as a blonde, buxom starlet singing her heart out in a sexy outfit. Sound familiar? It should, because that’s basically the role she plays in her everyday life. Although she has captured America’s hearts by doing this for years, it doesn’t exactly amount to a stretch for her to play on screen.
Nevertheless, Aguilera does so in the film “Burlesque,” as she portrays Ali, a homely girl who moves from Iowa to Los Angeles with hopes that she’ll make it to stardom as a singer.
Upon arriving, she wanders into The Burlesque Lounge, a sensual dance club with no windows, seeing gorgeous young women dancing to classic glamorous songs.
She immediately decides that she must find a way to join them, and runs into the club owner Tess (Cher), who denies Ali, unless she can prove herself worthy. We later find out that Tess is on the verge of losing her beloved club, unless she can find someone or something to turn the club around.
In order to win her spot, Ali shows the club that she has an advantage to the other voluptuous girls at Burlesque — she can sing.
Singing is undoubtedly Aguilera’s best talent in “Burlesque,” and she does so with excessive frequency. This role was clearly custom-made for Aguilera, which is not necessarily a good way to showcase her acting abilities — or lack thereof. She fails to escape her comfort zone, and has obviously never improved upon her acting skills since the “Mickey Mouse Club” in the early 1990s.
Cher out-acts Aguilera by far, and is most convincing out of all the divas in “Burlesque.” Cher’s biggest obstacle, however, is her own face. She has visible difficulty speaking and making facial expressions due to her many plastic surgeries that have frozen her expression into a moderate smirk.
The love story in the film surrounds Ali and a metro-sexual Burlesque Lounge bartender, Jack (Cam Gigandet), also an out-of-state music hopeful. The two have a convincing chemistry that makes audiences hope for Jack’s traveling fiancé to never return.
The film’s faults do not all fall on Aguilera’s performance, however. Far too many long song numbers make up the majority of the film, and the weak plot feels like a narrow bridge stringing together the performances.
The song and dance numbers are well-calculated and performed, but the acting lacks the same vigor and strength. Puns are heavily used throughout the dialogue, making the story line appear fabricated and forced.
A bothersome element of “Burlesque” is its consistent efforts to be a fairy-tale like story of a hometown girl-that-could. Ali is initially portrayed as obnoxiously vulnerable, with poofy blonde hair and infantile bangs.
The attempt to give the film a retro feel is painfully apparent, from Ali’s former job at a dive diner to The Burlesque Lounge itself, which is so charmlessly dingy that it would never realistically attract an L.A. crowd.
Aside from that, the burlesque dancing theme revival feels played out. Films like “Chicago” and “Moulin Rouge” have already claimed and mastered this concept, leaving little originality for “Burlesque” to achieve.
“Burlesque” will undoubtedly appeal to Aguilera and Cher’s loyal fan bases, but most people outside of those communities may experience the urge to exit the theater a little early.
Disclaimer: The Daily 49er is not responsible for Postings made on www.daily49er.wpengine.com. Persons commenting are solely responsible for Postings made on this website. Persons commenting agree to the Terms of Use of the website. If Postings do not abide by the Rules of Conduct or Posting Regulations as listed in the Postings Policy, the Daily 49er has all rights to delete Postings as it deems necessary. The Daily 49er strongly advises individuals to not abuse their First Amendment rights, and to avoid language suggestive of hate speech. This site also encourages users to make Postings relevant to the article or other Postings.
