Bouncy ‘Burlesque’

Pop songstresses Cher and Christian Aguilera star in the silly but somewhat endearing movie musical “Burlesque,” basically an amalgamation of generic plots involving the pursuit of dreams, but with more women clad in sexy lingerie.

So there’s Ali (Aguilera), the girl from Iowa, who sneaks her way into a waitressing job at an LA club owned by a motherly diva (Cher). The club’s scantily dressed dancers lip-synch to sultry tunes, but ambitious Ali eventually shares the stage with them and introduces some changes.

Practically everyone is assigned a perfunctory task and personality: friendly bartender is an aspiring songwriter (Cam Gigandet); inebriated and petulant star (Kristen Bell) gets catty and sabotage-y; the gay guy (Stanley Tucci) is the reliable shoulder to cry on. Cher disappears and reappears from time to time, her character worried about her business and whatnot. But it’s a respectable cast and the soundtrack is pleasant (Cher gets to sing a power ballad reminiscent of her late ‘80s songs and Aguilera flexes her pipes a couple of times). The romance subplot slows things down, though.

The film amuses, however, when it’s not trying to tell a story. Overall, it’s bouncy and brainless fun.