Burlesque 2010

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: The rest of Burlesque plays like an extended version of the "Lady Marmalade" video, with a few contrivances to provide vague conflict. Read more

Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly: "Get your ass up, show me how you burlesque," growls one of this indulgent movie's indulgent musical numbers that swaggers with pearls, glitter and red lipstick - if not grammatical verb usage. Read more

Nell Minow, Chicago Sun-Times: It's more hallucination than story, but hey, If you think of it as a slightly deranged long music video divathon it can be a lot of fun. Read more

Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: If I seem fixated on appearances here, what can I tell you; there isn't much else here on which to fixate one's attention. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: A movie that quickly proves achingly dull, with none of the madness, verve or talent of Paul Verhoeven's "Showgirls" or even the workmanlike energy of Rob Marshall's "Chicago." Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: Ignore the hamming; Burlesque is better at glamming, and that's just fine for those of us with a taste for glittery spectacle and earnestly campy theatrics. Read more

Nathan Rabin, AV Club: A terrible film that will delight nearly everyone who sees it, whether they're 12-year-old Christina Aguilera fans or bad-movie buffs angling for a guilty pleasure. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: I's not interesting enough to be a disaster. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: It's entertaining enough, like watching a celebrity workout film with a plot. But never once is it believable. Really, the movie should last 30 seconds. Read more

Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader: Even the dances feel cozily dated, as choreographers Denise Faye and Joey Pizzi borrow liberally from Bob Fosse. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: The choicest dialogue in Burlesque provokes the sort of laughter that other, intentionally funny films only dream of generating. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: If you go to Burlesque expecting a campy hoot on the order of Showgirls, you may be in for a disappointment. It's not quite awful enough, although it's plenty bad. Read more

Adam Graham, Detroit News: Every Thanksgiving needs a turkey, and this year's comes wrapped in a lacy bustier. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Maybe Burlesque will serve as the imitation goods that spurs a consumer revolution for something more authentic. Aw, who am I kidding? It won't. Read more

Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter: A refreshing throwback to movie musicals that celebrates its stars while indulging in sexy fun. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: "Burlesque" is top-heavy from start to finish. Maybe that's what you do when you have nothing new to say. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: You don't even have to know the title of one of Aguilera's pop hits to appreciate her performance: In case there was ever any doubt, Burlesque proves the girl's got talent. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: Burlesque manages what seemed impossible: It is filled with half-naked dancing girls, yet it's still boring. Read more

Bruce Diones, New Yorker: Has the glitz and allure of a Victoria's Secret ad. What it doesn't have is an imaginative reinvention of the show-biz cliches that have so adamantly inspired it. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: The whole thing's so safe, so straight, so completely anti-fabulous it could put Elton John in gray flannel. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Two hours of recycled plots and plastic acting. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Aguilera can dance like nobody's business, but her acting debut isn't going to keep Anne Hathaway awake at night. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: This one is strictly for Cher fans who like their campy shtick loud, lewd and ludicrous. But the biggest problem among many is that it's not her movie. She's hardly in it. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: Burlesque is a preposterous and intermittently entertaining lesson in how to make a movie musical with a little brains and a lot of talent. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Rated a family-friendly PG-13, Burlesque never loses its s---, never gets erotically out of hand, never devolves into delicious camp. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: It's big, perfectly cast and entertaining in every way, but more than that it feels like a generous public event. See it with other people. See it with a crowd. Read more

Jessica Grose, Slate: A campy, satisfying showcase for the impressively flashy vocal and sartorial stylings of Cher and Christina Aguilera. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Not as bad as "Showgirls" but not nearly as good as "Chicago," "Burlesque" hits its marks and high-kicks its way offstage just before it gets the hook. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: As cheese, Burlesque is a processed American foodstuff pretending to be French. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Falling in the pillowy cleavage between mildly awful and slightly entertaining, Burlesque is a cliched rags-to-diva story that culminates in a series of Christina Aguilera videos. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: It's more corny than campy and more silly than sexy, much more's the pity. No one could say that Aguilera doesn't give it her all, though. This is her first real acting assignment, and by God, she's going to act. Read more

Leah Rozen, TheWrap: Read more

Mary F. Pols, TIME Magazine: The movie is frivolous fun, but not, as I had sort of hoped, as sinfully awful as Showgirls, Mariah Carey's Glitter or Britney Spears' Crossroads. Read more

Ben Walters, Time Out: Try to make 'Showgirls' for 12 year olds and you please no one. What a tease. Read more

Scott Bowles, USA Today: Tucci is great and underused, and Cher acquits herself nicely in her first film role in seven years. But writer/director Steve Antin has his stars sashaying between dance numbers with little narrative thread. Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: An overwrought, underwritten hootchy-kootchy tuner that desperately wants to be Cabaret, but lacks the edge and historical context to pull it off. Read more

Karina Longworth, Village Voice: Instead of leading with what Aguilera does best -- belting, vamping, spotlight hogging -- the movie shoehorns her into a rehashed backstage musical conceit. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: This corny guilty pleasure of a movie is a fitting two-hander for these seasoned pros. Read more