The Good:
Cher is great in this role. She owns the role of Tess, a struggling and aging club owner who possibly never got her 'shot' at fame but has managed to create an amazing place for people to develop their talents and perform!
Christina Aguilera does a great job in the role of the overwhelmed and wide eyed would be star. She's surprisingly great with her first real acting role since "The Micky Mouse Club". Most of the time she just appears on tv as herself.
The Music is pretty terrific. Though mostly new music, there are a few standards in there that are great to hear. Cher has a terrific solo tune called "Last of Me". It's really a throwback to Cher of the 80's. It's a strong ballad and it really is intense.
Aguilera has many songs, of course, no one can deny her talent. Her vocals are amazing. Loved the pop songs with the dance numbers. Very must a music video feel but still captured the intensity in a live performance.
Stanley Tucci, Kristin Bell, Cam Gigandet and Julianne Hough are all good in their roles.
Great Cameo's from James Brolin, Dianna Agron (TV's GLEE) and Alan Cumming.
The Bad:
The plot. It's been done, time and time again. Small town girl seeks big city dreams, doesn't get what she wants at first and then ends up the star. Kind of lame but you can look past it because you're blinded by the glitz and glamor of the performances.
I honestly can't stress the storyline enough. I know this film was a reason to have a few terrific people get together to do a musical, but I wish they would have just made an attempt to do some original things in the film with the story.
The minute the would be boyfriend (Cam Gigandet) tells Ali (Aguilera) that he isn't gay but he's engaged, you know exactly where this story is going. Then she leaves his apt. in a hell of a rain storm, in LA, come on now, it barely rains in LA. Then he picks her up from the sidewalk and carries her back to his apartment, tells her to stay for a while and they become roommates and eventually a couple with a bit of trouble. Predictable.
That's truly the issues with the film, the predictability of the entire film. Though that's not going to be a surprise or deter any of the people seeing this film. It's really for the fans.
Overall. If you're a Cher or Christina Aguilera fan, you will love this film. If you enjoy Musicals, you'll enjoy this film.
This is not a think piece, it's just a fun night at the theatre. Enjoy it. They don't come around all that often.
