Grade: A-

I’m a sucker for musicals, and Burlesque is exceptionally good!  How can you miss with Cher and Christina Aguilera in the lead roles?  The musical numbers are amazing.  The story works – small town girl comes to Hollywood and finds a family in a nightclub and its performers.  Cher plays Tess, who runs the nightclub and sings.  She’s fallen on hard times and owes money or she’ll lose the club.  Christina’s character, Ali, finds love with the engaged bartender, Jack, played by Cam Gigandet, who wants to be a songwriter.  And of course, she’s beautiful, smart and talented so she gets the attention she deserves and becomes a star.  Then there’s the villain, Marcus, who comes in the form of slick Eric Dane. He wants to buy Tess out, and keep Ali away from Jack.  The only criticism I have is that the Ali character is so darn good.  She’s too good in every way – it would have been more reasonable to write in some flaw to make her more relatable. The music is great – I bought the soundtrack!