Burlesque

Plot

Alice "Ali" Marilyn Rose is a young waitress in Iowa who dreams of becoming a professional dancer ever since losing her mother a few weeks after her seventh birthday. After her selfish boss refuses to pay her salary, she takes what he owes her from the register and moves to LA, where she attends many auditions with little success.

One night, Ali comes across a burlesque club where its owner Tess Scali and an entourage of dancers perform an opening number. She also meets songwriter-bartender Jack Miller at the club's bar. He refers Ali to Tess for an audition, but she tells her to return another time and her assistant Sean ushers her out. Upon seeing their waitress shortage, Ali picks up a tray and begins serving. As a result, she manages to get a job waiting tables at the club.

When Georgia, one of the lead dancers, becomes pregnant, auditions are held in search of her replacement. Ali performs a difficult dance routine and eventually persuades Tess to hire her. This infuriates Nikki, a lead performer struggling with alcoholism.

One night after coming home from work, Ali realizes that her apartment at the Hotel Roselyn has been broken into. She runs to the toilet where she hid her money in the tank and discovers it has been stolen. She goes to Jack's apartment where he offers gives her the phone and gives her permission to call whomever she needs to for help, but she doesn't have anyone. He then allows Ali to stay the night in his apartment. The next morning, while it's pouring outside, she realizes that Jack was actually straight when she sees a photo of his fiance in his apartment. She goes to leave his apartment and it's pouring rain outside. He goes out to get her, carries her in, and said that because she doesn't have a place to stay, that she can stay there. She ends up staying at his apartment and helps chip in for her share, but only if he gives her the bedroom, making him sleep on the couch.

Ali replaces Nikki one night to host a performance after the latter is too intoxicated to perform. In a fit of rage, Nikki tries to sabotage it by turning off the music that the dancers usually lip sync to until Ali impresses everyone with her singing skills. Her performance is an instant success, and Tess casts her in an upcoming show. Despite the club's growing popularity, Tess struggles with a bank loan and a lien on her ownership rights of the building.

Cast

Cher as Tess Scali

Christina Aguilera as Alice Marilyn "Ali" Rose

Eric Dane as Marcus Gerber

Cam Gigandet as John "Jack" Miller

Julianne Hough as Georgia

Alan Cumming as Alexis

Peter Gallagher as Vincent "Vince" Scali

Kristen Bell as Nikki

Stanley Tucci as Sean

Dianna Agron as Natalie

Glynn Turman as Harold Saint

David Walton as Mark the DJ

Terrence Jenkins as Dave

Chelsea Traille as Coco

Tanee McCall as Scarlett

Tyne Stecklein as Jesse

Paula Van Oppen as Anna

Michael Landes as Greg

Blair Redford as James / Bumper Band Member

James Brolin as Mr. Anderson

Stephen Lee as Dwight

Production

Development

Steven Antin's sister Robin was a member and creator of the girl band the Pussycat Dolls. Circa 2002, the group performed at the Roxy Theatre, West Hollywood, with many artists—among them Christina Aguilera—and Steven Antin directed some of these shows. The first outline of the screenplay was written by Antin and Clint Culpepper, the Screen Gems' president. It was about "a girl escaping her life", showing up in a neo-burlesque club and launching a career as a performer.

Cher accepted the supporting role of Tess Scali because she wanted to sing in a movie and thought this would be her last opportunity to do so. While on the film set, she went on to praise co-star Christina Aguilera's acting abilities, revealing to Entertainment Tonight: "She was keeping up, and she was hot. I mean, it was, like, she was really up there. Her game is good." Canadian actor Shawn Roberts, who was previously cast in another Screen Gems production Resident Evil: Afterlife, was briefly considered for the role of Jack Miller. Lindsay Lohan and Jessica Biel auditioned for the role of Nikki.

Filming

Burlesque started shooting on November 9, 2009 and ended on March 3, 2010. Although director Steven Antin wrote the original screenplay, Diablo Cody (Juno) revised it uncredited. It was later further revised by Susannah Grant, also uncredited. Burlesque is Screen Gems' most expensive film, with the exception of the Resident Evil films, with costs of $55 million.

Filming locations included the exterior and adjacent parking as the "Burlesque Lounge" of the Ricardo Montalbán Theatre in Hollywood, as well as the interior of the Cathedral of Saint Vibiana.

Music

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album features ten tracks: eight performed by Aguilera including "Express"; and two performed by Cher which are her first original recordings in 7 years. The soundtrack includes a mix of original and cover songs. Both the ballads from the soundtrack – "Bound to You" performed by Aguilera and "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" performed by Cher – were nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. Cher's "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me", which was written by Diane Warren, won the award. In the United States, the soundtrack was certified Gold by the RIAA for shipments of 500,000 copies in October 2011.

Release

Marketing

The theatrical trailer was attached to screenings of Step Up 3D and Easy A. The first TV spot premiered during the season 2 premiere of Fox's Glee on September 21, 2010. A third TV spot also aired the following day during Dancing with the Stars, later followed by another during MTV's Jersey Shore. Several teasers have been released for promotional purposes including the Etta James's "Something's Got a Hold on Me". This was then followed by the track "But I Am a Good Girl" which was released in November 2010.

Aguilera performed "Bound to You" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and gave an interview and performance on Conan. Aguilera also gave an interview to show host Chelsea Handler to discuss the film and other subjects. On November 19, 2010, Aguilera also gave a television interview to Ellen DeGeneres. She then performed a track from the soundtrack, the Etta James track "Something's Got a Hold on Me". Aguilera performed "Express" at the American Music Awards of 2010 and "Show Me How You Burlesque" at the Dancing with the Stars finale. She also performed "Express" on the final of the seventh series of The X Factor which received criticism and complaints for the raunchy content.

Home media

The DVD and Blu-ray were released in North America on March 1, 2011. A Blu-ray/DVD combo has been released as well. The DVD and Blu-ray sales exceed one million units and have grossed $20,563,918 in the United States alone; and, as of May 19, 2011, it is the 19th highest selling movie of the year. In all, the DVD has sold over 1.4 million units in the United States. Overall, it has grossed over $30,053,366 on video sales (DVD and Blu-ray sales) in United States alone.

Reception

Box office

Burlesque was released on Wednesday, November 24, 2010, the day before Thanksgiving in the United States; on its opening day, it came in third to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Tangled. On Thursday, November 25, 2010, it dropped down to fourth place in the box office behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Tangled and Unstoppable and went down to fifth on Friday, November 26, 2010. On Sunday, November 28, 2010, it went back up to third place behind Tangled and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. It stayed in the top five until December 10, 2010, when it fell to sixth behind The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Tourist, Tangled, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Unstoppable. By the Christmas weekend, it was number 15 at the box office.

The week after Thanksgiving, Burlesque experienced a substantial decrease on ticket sales, earning $9.65 million ($6.1 million for the weekend), for a total of $26.98 million for its first twelve days. As of February 6, 2011, it had grossed $39.4 million in North America, and, as of May 15, 2011, $51.1 million in foreign countries, for a total of $91 million worldwide, and an additional $42 million in domestic video sales (DVD and Blu-ray).

Critical response

Burlesque received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 37% based on 178 reviews, with an average rating of 4.90/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Campy and clichéd, Burlesque wastes its talented cast (including a better-than-expected Christina Aguilera) on a movie that wavers uncertainly between 'bad' and 'so bad it's good.'" On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 47 out of 100, based on 38 reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.

Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune said, "The choicest dialogue in Burlesque provokes the sort of laughter that other, intentionally funny films only dream of generating." Mick LaSalle from San Francisco Chronicle gave the movie a full score and praised Aguilera's acting, calling her "jaw-droppingly good in several numbers" and said, "Aguilera knows how to listen to her fellow actors, to react and be spontaneous, and it makes all the difference". Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter called Burlesque "a refreshing throwback to movie musicals that celebrates its stars while indulging in sexy fun" and also praised Aguilera's acting and singing. Stanley Tucci's performance received praise from Entertainment Weekly and Empire thought the dance numbers were thrilling. Time Out labelled the drama "perfunctory" while Roger Ebert said that "Burlesque shows Cher and Christina Aguilera being all that they can be, and that's more than enough." Variety observed that the film "wants to be Cabaret, but lacks the edge and historical context to pull it off." The New York Times said that the story line "had already gathered dust by the time [of] the 1933 musical 42nd Street".

Aguilera's portrayal of the main character received positive reviews, and has been ranked among the hundred best acting performances by musicians by the Billboard magazine. Sarah Carty of RTÉ.ie opined that the singer "manages to bring an unforced charm to her first starring role." Urban Cinefile's Louise Keller praised the film for the "knock out performances by the sizzling hot Christina Aguilera and the legendary Cher."

Legacy

According to Joey Nolfi of Entertainment Weekly, since its release the movie "inspired everything, from drag queen revues to viral internet moments". Nolfi applauded Burlesque as "a campy, niche classic". In 2019, a full-length Burlesque tour, based on the movie, embarked, including at British venues. It starred Farrah Moan as Ali Rose and Chad Michaels as Tess Scali. The Burlesque stage musical was supposed to open at the Paper Mill Playhouse, New Jersey, in autumn 2020, followed by a Broadway theatre adaptation, but the plans were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The movie was also referenced in the third season of the VH1 reality show RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. In a 2020 interview Antin revealed a "hybrid television event/series", based on the movie, was under development.

In January 2021, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue won the gold medal at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. During the 2020–21 season they danced to a medley of Aguilera's Burlesque songs, which included "Express".

Stage musical adaptation

A stage musical adaptation of the film opened in West End, after completing tryouts at the Manchester Opera House in Manchester, and at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow from June to November 2024.

Steven Antin returned to write the book, with music and lyrics by Christina Aguilera, Sia, Diane Warren, Todrick Hall, and Jess Folley. Antin and Aguilera also produced the adaptation.