Burlesque

Steve Antin wrote and directed this story of a waitress who leaves Iowa for Los Angeles and reaches the stage of a failing club. He drafted the script, but it was rewritten twice, by Diablo Cody of Juno and then Susannah Grant of Erin Brockovich, neither credited. The part was written for Christina Aguilera from the start, as Screen Gems chief Clint Culpepper said openly, and it was her first lead. Some of what Aguilera sings is not new: the opening number is Etta James’s 1962 Something’s Got a Hold on Me, and another comes from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Production came to 55 million dollars after California tax credits, a high figure for Sony’s low budget label Screen Gems. The awards came not from the plot but from the 2 ballads where the story stops to sing. At the Golden Globes, 2 of the 5 Best Original Song nominees came from this film; Diane Warren’s, sung by Cher, won and Aguilera’s lost. That same season Cher was a Razzie nominee for worst supporting actress. A good fit if you treat the solo number that halts the plot as the reason to be there, not a delay. Not for anyone who will go cold when the club is saved by selling air rights, not by a performance.