(2010) A small-town girl with spunk, Ali Rose (Christina Aguilera, who also composed a few of the songs), having a great voice, face, legs, and everything in between, abruptly quits her waitressing job in Iowa to split for LA. In the city of angels she struggles to find work as a singer or dancer until she enters the Burlesque Lounge.

The club's having tremendous sentimental value for Tess (Cher, who belts out two numbers), though burdening her with an impending bank loan she can't afford to repay and troubles with her alcoholic ("You poured tequila on your Cheerios") star dancer Nikki (Kristen Bell), the retired dancer, in a partnership with her former husband Vince (Peter Gallagher) who desperately wants to sell, fends off generous offers to purchase the property from Marcus (Eric Dane), a real-estate mogul and Nikki's boyfriend.

Boldly assertive and inventive, Ali with the help of the bartender Jack (Cam Gigantet) does everything she can to make an impression on Tess and her manager Sean (Stanley Tucci) of her talent, at first to no avail. But there's nothing stopping her in this Chicago-esque, risqué (but PG-13 and more predictable) musical from director/writer Steve Antin.

The girls strut their stuff on stage, wiggling and waggling butts and boobs in our face to the boom-boom of the band, but the only thing bared beneath their tight costumes and bustiers, other than fanny flesh and cleavage, are the naked emotions of the heart. Welcome, Alice, says Sean, to the wonderland of Hollywood.

When her apartment is ransacked, Ali moves in "temporarily" with Jack, whom she mistakenly assumed to be gay only to realize his fiancé Nikki, a showgirl, is "temporarily" away in New York (with whom he communicates daily by cellphone); he's also a pianist and composer of "not ready" songs. Sean (who is gay) recommends to Jack that Ali's the real thing, cautioning: "Every opportunity has a shelf-life."

While Marcus, with his suavity and wealth, makes his move to confiscate the new girl's affections and leverage the club into his possession, Tess offers motherly advice to Ali, her new dancer and singer, whose mother died when she was only seven. Given half a chance, Ali proves her worth, changing the lip-synching acts to full blown live vocalization with her powerful pipes, bringing every production to a happy conclusion.

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Copyright © 2010 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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