A Wink and a Smile

Deirdre Allen Timmons' informative look inside the vibrant world of an ongoing Burlesque revival pedals between the progress of ten female students of Miss Indigo Blue's Burlesque 101 class at Seattle's Academy of Burlesque, and performances by seasoned professionals in the city's active club scene. An attendant theme of female empowerment bleeds into the incidental narrative created by Indigo Blue's encyclopedic narration about the art form, and candid interviews with her imaginative students. The film comes up short by not showing the complete routines that Miss Blue's students have prepared for a night of performance. The filmmaker's inability to master the form that the film is clearly set up to fulfill, leaves the audience feeling cheated out of a promised warts-and-all payoff.

Not Rated. 91 mins. (C+) (Two Stars)