Burlesque (I) (2010)

A small-town girl ventures to Los Angeles and finds her place in a neo-burlesque club run by a former dancer.

Director:

Steve Antin

Writer:

Steve Antin

Stars:

Cher, Christina Aguilera, Eric Dane

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cher	...	Tess
Christina Aguilera	...	Ali
Eric Dane	...	Marcus
Cam Gigandet	...	Jack
Julianne Hough	...	Georgia
Alan Cumming	...	Alexis
Peter Gallagher	...	Vince
Kristen Bell	...	Nikki
Stanley Tucci	...	Sean
Dianna Agron	...	Natalie
Glynn Turman	...	Harold Saint
David Walton	...	Mark the DJ
Terrence Jenkins	...	Dave
Chelsea Traille	...	Coco
Tanee McCall-Short	...	Scarlett (as Tanee McCall)

Storyline

The Burlesque Lounge has its best days behind it. Tess, a retired dancer and owner of the venue, struggles to keep the aging theater alive, facing all kinds of financial and artistic challenges. With the Lounge's troupe members becoming increasingly distracted by personal problems and a threat coming from a wealthy businessman's quest to buy the spot from Tess, the good fortune seems to have abandoned the club altogether. Meanwhile, the life of Ali, a small-town girl from Iowa, is about to change dramatically. Hired by Tess as a waitress at the Lounge, Ali escapes a hollow past and quickly falls in love with the art of burlesque. Backed by newfound friends amongst the theater's crew, she manages to fulfill her dreams of being on stage herself. Things take a dramatic turn though when Ali's big voice makes her become the main attraction of the revue.

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Plot Keywords:

burlesque | small town girl | dancer | iowa | stage | 

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Taglines:

It takes a LEGEND... to make a STAR

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Genres:

Drama | Musical | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content including several suggestive dance routines, partial nudity, language and some thematic material

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [fr]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 November 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Burleska

Filming Locations:

Sony Pictures Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$55,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£425,931 (UK) (17 December 2010)

Gross:

$39,440,655 (USA) (4 February 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Screen Gems, De Line Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Surprisingly, this is Cher's first musical film.

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Goofs

When Ali and Marcus are driving her hair is pulled up. When they arrive at his house for the party her hair is down. The next scene shows a close up of her pulling her hair down.

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Quotes

Ali Rose: If I'm not 20 times better than "boobs for brains" over there, you don't have to pay me.

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Connections

References Project Runway (2004)

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Soundtracks

"But I Am a Good Girl"
Written by Jacques Morali, Alain Bernardini and Steve Antin
Produced by Christopher Stewart
Performed by Christina Aguilera

User Reviews

The grotesque state of the film musical

The state of American film in the 21st Century has been generally abysmal but nowhere is it more evident than in the film musical. Taking the most honored of the period Chicago, a Fosse wanta be with bad performances and forgettable tunes as the benchmark it is more than evident all singing all dancing has lost its voice and more than a step. The latest entry and every bit the tepid much ado about nothing heat and light display of flaccid musical storytelling as the Oscar winner (an even bigger comment on the unimaginative state of the movie business) is the insipidly slick Burlesque.

Stop me if you've heard this. Young impressionable girl with massive hidden talent leaves the land of corn for the bright lights of LA where she stumbles upon a run down anachronism with a crusty but understanding owner still in it for love of the game who gives the kid a break and, well you can fill in the rest.

In the role of Judy Garland Christine Aguleria sings the blues with impressive voice but it's all plastic soul and slumming for the former mouseketeer who presents an unintentionally jarring visual context of an Aryan uber babe singing Bessie Smith. Speaking of plastic Cher all polished and waxed like an antique Oldsmobile splits her time offering sage advice and sarcasm. In addition she does a couple of tunes with her signature howl wrapped as always in distracting outfit and opulent stagecraft to soften its blow. There's some male characters whose purpose it seems is to stand around with expressions of awe for the divas and of course the serious pyrotechnics surrounding the noir dance numbers that attempts to put some make-up on this pig but in the end it is all forced Fosse.