Burlesque

Spunky is the word that first comes to mind when you watch Burlesque. First time director Steve Antin (well almost first time since his other video movie didn’t really create waves) gives us an extremely heady mix of jazz put together in a style that can only be described as Coyote Ugly meets Moulin Rouge. One could choose add a taste of Chicago to it as well but just a dash mind you. Small town girl aiming to make it to the bright arc lights of Los Angeles. Spice it up with a couple of affairs. Add to that 2 of the best voices known to man. Garnish it with a reasonable story and a feel good ending and voila you have Burlesque.

Alice Rose (the oh so sizzling Christina Aguilera), Ali for short is all starry eyed about song and dance. She has the voice to make her feel that way. But she is from Iowa where she works at a local deli. Fed up with waiting tables – one would automatically be that way if you are not paid for a while – she takes off for LA to do what she really wants to do. As she is moving from place to place to place she passes by a neon sign that says – Burlesque Lounge. Intrigued, she walks in to see what it is all about and reluctantly pays the $20 entry fee (she is really short on money right). And its love at first sight. She asks the bartender Jack (Cam Gigandet) as to who is in charge and is directed to Tess (Cher). But Tess doesn’t have the patience to meet some new wannabe starlet and brushes her off. She sends her to Sean (Stanley Tucci) the arranger who asks her to leave her name and number with Jack again. Back to square one I guess.

Not willing to give up, Ali uses her charm to get herself a job at Burlesque itself. Jack is more than willing to accommodate. At this time, I would like to clarify that Jack is a genuinely nice guy and does not give Ali the job because of the size of her hooters. A couple of days into the job, Ali comes back to see her house looted. With nowhere else to go she lands up – no points for guessing – at Jack’s place for help and Jack being the good friend he is, offers her the place for the night. Till the next morning, Ali thinks Jack is gay but is not too comfortable when she finds out otherwise and that Jack is engaged to be married to Natalie, a struggling actress who spends more time in NY than in LA. She however stays back because as I said earlier, Jack is a really good guy.

Ali’s efforts to get herself into the main act keep falling flat but her break does come in when one of the dancers, Georgia (Julianne Hough) gets knocked up. Tess is mighty impressed to see that she has learnt all the dance moves by just being a waitress. An even big break comes up when the jealous Nikki (Kirsten Bell) decides to pull the DJ plug while Ali is performing. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Ali decides to sing and continue with the performance and before you can say Jack Daniels, the show is aligned with her as the star attraction. All this is however happening with Tess being on the verge of bankruptcy and an aggressive developer, Marcus (Eric Dane) on her back to force her to sell the bar.

If you like all the things that I mentioned earlier in this review then Burlesque is a must must watch. The soundtrack is a must have too I am definitely going to try and get my hands on it at the earliest. Cher and Aguilera are both fabulous with their voices although their acting talent can be questioned. Also, Aguilera can be questioned on her dancing capabilities with most of the supporting cast being much more talented in this aspect. If, however, you don’t like musicals, then this is definitely not the place to be. Overall, Burlesque is a well made movie. Not in the class of a Chicago or not remotely as larger than life like Moulin Rouge but an entertainer nevertheless. 6 on 10 is what I would give it. But watch it on the big screen to feel the experience.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1405094169/

When in Rome

Beth (Kirsten Bell) is a workaholic curator @ the Gugenhiem in New York. Her life revolves around her job which she uses as an excuse for her singledom. For her apparent lack of faith in a concept called love. Although she secretly pines to find “the one”, she doesn’t have the courage to take the plunge. She is in for a not so pleasant surprise when her baby sister, Joan (Alexis Dziena) decides to tie the knot within 2 weeks of knowing Umberto (Luca Calvani), an average hot blooded, gorgeous Italian. Beth is shocked out of her wits because her rational side cannot accept the fact that her sister has decided to settle down within a time that is not even sufficient for a reasonable “credit check”.

Now Beth has an exhibition of art centred around the theme of “pain” coming up and her boss Celeste (Anjelica Houston) all but threatens to fire her if she is unable to ensure that the main exhibit reaches the venue on time. Assuring her of being on top of her job, she rushes to Rome for her sister’s wedding where she bumps into the clumsy best man Nick Beamon (Josh Duhamel). Nick and Umberto were together @ university where Nick was labeled “The Hit” thanks to being struck by lightning during a football game. That successfully ended his career in football and he finds himself now writing copy for the sports section in a local publication in New York.

There is an instant chemistry between Beth and Nick and despite her best efforts Beth cannot stop herself from making the first move. However, her excitement is short lived when she sees Nick kissing a hot chick in a red dress @ the famous fountain of love in Rome. Beth, yet again, is disappointed with love and spends the rest of the evening getting drunk @ the fountain. In her dismay, she also decides to pick up 5 coins from the fountain to prevent the 5 wishes from coming true. Whats the point of being in love anyways right? Wrong. Not when u try this stunt at the fountain of love. Legend has it that if you pick up a coin from the fountain then u have accepted the love of a person and therefore have cast a spell on the person who has thrown the coin into the fountain. The next thing you know, Beth has 4 men who are running after her in New York city. An unsuccessful Italian painter – Antonio (Will Arnet), A model who is a narcissist personified – Gale (Dax Shepherd), A street magician who doesn’t have the confidence in performing live – Lance (John Heder) and A Meat Baron who has recently broken up with his wife – Al Russo (Danny De Vito). Now wait a minute… who is the 5th person? Will Beth find true love? Will she be able to get rid of her 4 stalkers? You will need to watch WiR to find out!!!

Mark Steven Johnson’s first attempt @ a RomCom doesn’t come off too well. His previous efforts were with Dare Devil which flopped quite badly at the BO and Ghost Rider which did pretty well. The direction in these 2 was nothing close to stellar. With WiR he maintains the un-stellar direction. Must give him points for consistency. The story though is compact and well narrated. Not dragged around too unnecessarily. Finishes off in under 90 minutes. With some slapstick situational humour thrown in. Keeps one reasonably entertained. But nevertheless is not too inspiring in any ways. In a nut shell there is nothing too new really other than the fictional spell that is cast by the Fountain of Love. Acting is at best average with the exception of Danny De Vito who in his bit part continues to fascinate you with his ease of essaying any role that is given to him. Ditto for Angelica Houston. But it beats me why these 2 great actors chose to play a part in a below average movie like WiR. I had missed this out when it hit the screens a few months back. Would probably say it was worth the DVD but then I am an addict to movies. 4 on 10 for this one. Thoda disappointing.