Back in August, BabylonSista said she thought Burlesque might enter the so-bad-it's-good canon. I just love how much money Stanley Tucci and Cher must be making from this:
One of the reasons I like Tucci so much is that I think he enjoys being paired with strong actresses. His sexual chemistry with Meryl Streep in full Julia Child mode was one of the best things about Julie & Julia: they took the tall-gal, short-guy pairing that could get played for laughs or awkwardly executed and turned it into a relationship that was sensual, funny, and tender, whether Streep was comparing hot pasta to grabbing a penis or the two of them were experiencing baby regret near Notre Dame. In The Devil Wears Prada, he was engaged in two separate platonic love affairs with strong women who needed his direction, rather than his salvation. He was the one who got burned. I sense here that he and Cher will have some serious and unexpected oomph, and he'll treat Christina Aguilera's character with more respect than anyone naive enough to be convinced they'll "make it" in Los Angeles actually deserves. The movie will still be a hot mess. But he'll always be worth watching, because he'll be treating the candy on screen like women. To put in that kind of effort on a fat, dumb, window-dressing paycheck is kind of charming. But I guess a house in France, or wherever, is a bit easier to enjoy when you can buy it still feeling some self-respect. I doubt Ben Stiller has that feeling very often.