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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 (as Steven Antin)

Writer:

Steve Antin (as Steven Antin)
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Popularity
1,837 ( 788)
Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 5 wins & 19 nominations. See more awards »

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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 ... Scarlett
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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. Written by Bobby_John

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

In a city of dreams and beyond your imagination, there exists a magical world that comes to life. See more »


Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Most of the stand-ins for the female dancers in the performances of the Burlesque club were actually former members of The Pussycat Dolls, the Las Vegas burlesque-troupe-turned-pop-group (uncredited though). See more »

Goofs

The only storage shown in Jack's tiny apartment is a closet, and Jack empties it for Ali. Natalie was only supposed to be away from the shared apartment short-term, so where are all of her personal belongings? She wouldn't have taken everything she owned for a short trip, and Jack would not have removed every trace of her before Ali moved in. There should be female clothes, shoes, toiletries and other accoutrements around the apartment when Ali arrives, but there are none. See more »

Quotes

Jack: Oh, I uhm... I finished a song. I think it's pretty good.
Ali Rose: [chuckles] Can I hear it?
Jack: No. But...
[pause, handing Ali a songsheet]
Jack: you can sing it.
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Crazy Credits

The credits play over a background of the stage set from the final scene ("Show Me How to Burlesque" dance number). See more »

Connections

Referenced in The Crazy Ones: The Lighthouse (2014) See more »

Soundtracks

Suits Are Picking Up the Bill
Written by James Mathus
Produced by Chris Phillips and Christopher Thorn
Performed by Chris Phillips and the Squirrel Nut Zippers Orchestra
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User Reviews

Great cast, great songs, great costumes, why do people hate this movie?
29 September 2011 | by jess211-172-281805See all my reviews

i have just watched this movie for the first time today, and I must say that I don't understand why I listened to the other reviews. All I heard was that the acting was horrible and the story was bland and so on. I will say that the opening scene is a bit too empty, but then Christina starts singing and you forget all about it. The cast is amazing: for the guys we have Christina Aguilera, Kristen Bell, Julianne Hough, Chelsea Traille and the rest of the girls, even Dianna Agron; for the ladies we have Eric Dane and of course the sculptured Cam Gigandet; of course we can't forget about the acting powerhouse that is Stanley Tucci playing the gay best friend that every woman wishes she had (especially if he is that good looking); and we can't forget about Peter Gallagher and Alan Cumming. There is a lot more eye candy from all the boys that work at Burlesque. The story is somewhat predictable but I find that the way it is told, between music and extra little drama in the background, makes it perfect. Just hearing Christina Aguilera singing is enough to carry the story along. Cher has a solo about halfway through the movie that brings you back to one of the main issues in the background which makes for a very powerful solo thanks to that story and the power of Cher's voice makes it even more dramatic. The writing is exquisite due to a main reason, it is perfectly real. It is not full of extra fluff and puff just to create some kind of big moment. It has lots of funny in it, but very subtle . Bottom line is, the script is simple, to the point and every line sounds like something you would hear somebody say in real life. Many films have all that dialogue that you know nobody would ever say but it makes for those big moment, but the simplicity in this movie is what makes me like it so much. It is a simple film, with an amazing cast, that I believe has been completely overlooked. I have a theory as to why it has been overlooked...the marketing for it wasn't very good, it only focused on Cher and Christina and it made very little reference to any of the other amazing people in it or even to the story. The trailer makes it sound like it is all about the dancing and sining, but there is an actual story behind it all. The love story is only partially shown on the trailer, there isn't even one image of Eric Dane or Peter Gallagher, there is too much information about the dancing part as well, I personally think they should have left a little mystery on the dancing and singing and added some more of the story into it.

That's just what I think. Enjoy.


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Frequently Asked Questions

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 November 2010 (USA) See more »

Also Known As:

Burlesque See more »

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA See more »

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Box Office

Budget:

$55,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,947,744, 28 November 2010

Gross USA:

$39,440,655

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$89,520,336
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

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Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39:1
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