Burlesque

Those who have made it to the top of the music charts also like to try to climb to pole position on the movie charts. However, the result is rarely successful. Whether Madonna, Britney Spears or Mariah Carey, as successful as these stars are in the music business, they are often pure poison at the box office. Now Christina Aguilera is also trying her hand at acting. But in "Burlesque", the feature film debut of "Pussycat Dolls"co-founder Steven Antin, Aguilera plays it safe and does what she does best: sing, dance and put on a sexy show.

She does it all as country bumpkin Ali, who comes to New York from the sticks to become a successful singer. Chance brings her to the Burlesque Lounge, a long-established revue theatre whose owner Tess (Cher) is struggling with more than just financial problems. Also, the not-really-helpful behavior of her lead dancer Nikki (Kristen Bell) makes it difficult for Tess to save her club. For Ali, this is her big chance: after scamming a job as a waitress at the burlesque lounge, she's just waiting for the right moment to convince Tess of her talent as a singer and dancer. Sure enough, Ali soon becomes the new star of the show - but that doesn't take the problems off the table by any means...

For those looking for originality, "Burlesque" is truly out of place. The film is at times a very obvious copy of "Coyote Ugly" and also brazenly borrows from other dance and music films without even adding an idea of its own into the mix. The dialogues are extremely thin and the dramaturgy seems extremely forced and contrived. Nevertheless, the film - or rather the feature length video clip - has an undeniable entertainment factor that can be attributed to a number of factors.

There are, on the one hand, actors like the as always wonderful Stanley Tucci ("Julie & Julia"), Alan Cumming, who is clearly underused here, or even Cher, all of whom deliver solid performances that are well worth watching. On the other hand, of course, there are the perfectly staged dance and vocal performances. That Steven Antin had a hand in the creation of the Pussycat Dolls is clearly noticeable in the choreography. Even if the whole thing has little in common with what is traditionally associated with burlesque performances, the whole thing is worth seeing - at least for the intended target group. A few songs worth listening to (but also some shockingly bad ones) make "Burlesque" not only fodder for the eyes but also for the ears.

If you can switch off your brain completely and like to be entertained by simple dance films, and if you are a big fan of Christina Aguilera, "Burlesque" can be recommended to you. However, if you're hoping for a strong musical film with an original story, you'll be bitterly disappointed here

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp