Burlesque
Written and Directed by Steven Antin
Starring Cher, Christina Aguilera, Stanley Tucci, Kristen Bell
**1/2
With Burlesque, writer/director Steven Antin—who has had a long and checkered career in the industry, having every job from stunt man to bit player to music video helmer—attempts to achieve the quixotic goal of interesting a new generation in a form of entertainment that was dying out when their grandparents were teenagers. It’s very clear that Antin has a passion for the grungy glamour associated with burlesque and Depression-era nightclubs and music halls, to say nothing of the silly showbiz musicals that Hollywood churned out by the dozen during its Golden Age. He happily cribs from other sources both classic and more contemporary—a little bit of 42nd Street here, a little bit of Moulin Rouge there and a whole lot of Bob Fosse’s Cabaret throughout.
