Review of “Burlesque”

Still stunned at how awful “Burlesque” is. I expected a piece of fluff and wound up with a mouthful of dust motes. They got out the saws and hammers to hack together every cliche in the book on this one. The “songs” are equally shabby, derivative, and hackneyed. Thankfully, they are forgettable. Christina Aguilera’s voice is an amazing instrument but she sings each vapid lyric with one dynamic, LOUD. Her doll face lacks much sign of intelligence or animation until she sings and dances. I feel cruel dissing Cher, who I have always admired, but her stiff Botox infused performance left me embarrassed for her and fearful she might fall over at any moment. Halfway through I allowed myself to laugh out loud and accept the whole mess as a minor absurd musical comedy and I felt better for it. Costumes and dance are the highlights of this overblown, hollow headed nod to the ludicrous, exaggerated art of burlesque.