Take a little "Fame", a bit more "Chicago", a little bit more "Dreamgirls" and a lot more "Cabaret", mix them all up, serve cold and hey presto - "Burlesque" a really very clichéd, stereotypical movie musical featuring divas from the past and present in the personae of Cher and Christina Aguilera.You name it, almost every stock character and situation you can think of in this context is worked in and to death, the young, talented wannabe singer, her backstage, bitchy rival, the older Teflon-tough mother-hen club-owner with a heart of gold, her gay, sympathetic, through-thick-and-thin assistant manager, the grasping, super-rich property magnate out to buy out the failing club and the handsome, sympathetic barman who wouldn't you know it, is a gifted songwriter with a long-time, long-distance fiancé who puts up the young singer with predictable results. The story really itself from all of the above in a wholly predictable manner which would be all very well if it was well acted, staged and acted but unfortunately it isn't. Cher's face us so botoxed that she can only just make her lips move to speak, Aguilera tries hard, way too hard, to impress leaving just Stanley Tucci to steal most of his scenes as everyone's shoulder-to-cry-on.Like the aforementioned "Dreamgirls", the songs just aren't strong enough either and fail to lodge themselves in the memory in any way. When Aguilera's boy-friend near the end finally presents her with the big song he's been holding back for her, it's just a formulaic sub-disco effort. Moreover, it's ridiculous for Aguilera to make her big pitch to Cher by pleading to actually sing rather than lip-synch on the club stage, only for her to proceed to lip-synch all her own songs from then on.The production numbers too lack the snap and imagination of "Chicago", never mind anything Bob Fosse ever created, leaving the film a rather empty construct, filled with paper-thin characters and a happy ending constructed, literally out of thin air.This I'm afraid is one cabaret you don't want to come to.

Have to start by saying the film has little to do with Burlesque, other than some skimpy outfits.But that's fine - it more than makes up for that with the excellent soundtrack.The storyline is far from original, small town girl makes it big. But it's a feel good storyline nonetheless.Acting is good throughout, but secondary to Christinas phenomenal voice. If I'm honest, I was never a fan of the pop music she's sung, but this film clearly shows she really is a talented artist.So faults aside, why give it an 8 ? Because if you enjoyed the film and the songs, you'll doubtless watch it a few times - and I'll give it an 8 for that reason alone.So few films have a rewatch value these days, but this is definitely one to savour - just make sure you listen on a good sound system.

And I say that as an old fart who has never particularly liked Christine Aguilera, or her image or brand of pop (am I getting old?).It's not 'Funny Girl' or 'Cabaret', but it's a bit of a mixture of both, with some nice moments for the supporting cast - especially Stanley Tucci, who once again gets to play "the gay" in that interesting, undemonstrative style of his - and not much needed from the leads, who do their jobs as required.And if that sounds like a put-down, it's not meant to be. I enjoyed watching the film - it's just not up there with the ones I mentioned. And the business of it being too "Bob Fosse"-esque? Pah. If you're going to mimic, at least pick the best.My preference would have been for a few more classic lip-synced blues tracks; but at the end of the day, it's a nice story, well told. And it reminded me that, even with all that prodigious female talent on display: It ain't what you got; it's how you use it.

This is a chick flick to the bone. Now I'm not usually a fan of chick flicks, so obviously I don't like this movie.The script is a huge cliché and it has all been done before, and you're gonna guess what happens very quickly. Small-town-girl with big dreams, goes to the city, doesn't have to fight long to get that star role she wants, has a jealous female enemy, love triangle, gets the hot guy, relationship problems follow very shortly, girl solves problems, forgives the guy and everything is fine again. The end.The only strong parts about this movie is it's musical numbers, obviously, since that is Christina Aguilera's strong side. Since she's a pop star already, she's obligated to be a character that sings in her first (and hopefully last) movie. I'm not against singers in movies, and Aguilera is definitely not the worst I've seen, but her character is so thin and without depth that it goes bad anyway.The songs are good (except the ones they obviously put in to have Cher and Christina sing about their current state of mind), the dancing is very nice and the costumes dashing. I only wish I had seen more of Alan Cumming. His number with the two girls were very similar to the "Two Ladies" number Cabaret. Also, the first scene in the Burlesque club is also a huge reference/rip off to Cabaret's first musical number, which sort of made me a little excited. The biggest problem I have with this movie is that the whole Burlesque club is filled with glitter and expensive costumes and enormous props, and let's face it, Tess's financial problems could've been solved right away if she got rid of even half of those stuff and just toned down the club a bit. It would still be good, the dancer's wouldn't be any worse and it's still easy to make it look good. You don't have to make a Broadway musical to make a show good.I love the art of burlesque (both the old kind and the new kind), and this is NOT burlesque. It is a cabaret, with a little burlesque dancing. But they had to make this movie available to all the teen girls who love Aguilera out there, so actual burlesque was probably out of the question.This movie isn't horrible, but it can't be watched with a serious eye. The poor plot and the thin script is laughable and even with great music numbers, the incredible cheesiness of it all makes me not want to see this movie again.