Striptease (1996)

Given all the high priced stars appearing in this movie, I found it to be on the disappointing side. Of course, I was never a big Demi Moore fan, but she does a fair job in this standard flick. Burt Reynolds could have been a little better, too. Armando Assante had his usual very solid performance. Stephanie Schick appearing as Pandora Peaks provided a little eye candy. I did find many parts of the movie mildly amusing which helped pass the time.

It's hard to know how to take Striptease. Should you take it, as a comedy or drama. Here you get little of each. Getting over that very raunchy, commercial, and flamboyant Verhoeven effort, Showgirls the year before, the strip show circuit, is thrown back in our faces again, where what we have here, instead, is a story, only this movie is less captivating, or enticing. Fighting for custody of her daughter, against her white trash alcoholic ex, (Patrick in one of his best performances) our hot Demi, such eye candy in black lingerie, goes back to what she does best, stripping, so she can earn enough to get herself a good lawyer and have permanent custody of her angel. This only scratches the surface of the story, involving murder, of an overweight, drooling customer, who tries to help Demi out of her pickle, bringing the attention of a good natured cop (Assante very good, but wasted here). After all the body, practically landed on Assante's doorstep. Of course the scene stealer is Burt, as a crooked congressman, who really has a kinky side to him, sporting different disguises when he frequents strips clubs. But we all have our kinks. His performance can be seen as terrible, or terribly great if you can grasp that concept. It's sad he got a Stinker award, whatever as this character is the furtherest from Burt, we've ever seen, as he's not Burt. Demi does really work the stage well though, like a pro, and we almost see all of Demi. She's As an actress here, though, she's done better, Disclosure, solid evidence of that. We too have a hot stripper actress from Showgirls, as well as other hotties. We have a really cute and funny, chimpanzee, could be the same one from Monkey Trouble, for all I know. Unfortunately Striptease, is a film, that just have that spark, or take off. But if you like nudity and comedy, hey, you could very well like this. Oh, also, if you're an Annie Lennox fan too.

I can remember Striptease being sold to the public as the film where Demi Moore flashes her newly augmented cans, the A-list actress paid a whopping $12.5 million to play stripper Erin Grant, whose quest to gain custody of her little girl (played by Moore's real life daughter Rumer) lands her in deep water with a sleazy congressman (Burt Reynolds) and the shady businessmen who back him.If seeing a lot more of Moore is all you're after, then you'll be as happy as the proverbial pig, the muscular actress jiggling her jugs and bodybuilder's butt throughout, but anyone expecting anything remotely resembling a decent film will feel more than a little disappointed: the plot is as cheesy as hell, the characters are incredibly clichéd, and the comedy is embarrassingly bad.At least Moore made a tidy fortune out of this mess, but I imagine Burt Reynolds, Ving Rhames (as lovable bouncer Shad), Armand Assante (concerned cop Al Garcia) and Robert Patrick (Erin's low- life ex) made total idiots out of themselves for a lot less.

I have enjoyed this movie ever since I first viewed it. And the main reason is Demi Moore. She has obviously done her homework and her dancing is quite literally, stunning. She is truly superb as one of the sleazy nightclub pole dancers and I appreciate an actor who has taken the time to experience the real thing and then gets it spot on when required. Some of the support cast leave things to be desired. Moore's estranged husband is not the best drunk/drugged I've ever seen and Bert Reynolds portrayal of the congressman couldn't have been more hammed up if the producers had tried. Demi learned to dance like an exotic dancer for this film and after just having a baby at the time, she looks great.And even with an indifferent script, Moore holds it all together so as not to allow these annoyances to ruin this otherwise enjoyable comedy/drama.The story was hugely predictable, and the acting was pretty bad, but this movie was really funny. There were some great one-liners. If you are a fan of Demi Moore, then you will recall her dancing to two terrific Lennox tunes, "Money Can't Buy It" and "Little Bird." These tunes marked the clear highlight of the film, but mysteriously are missing here, along with another haunting Lennox song titled "Cold" which can be found on the album Diva along with the other two missing songs. Overall, a pretty good movie with Moore's "chair dance" being one of the most sensual acts I have seen in a long time! Overall rating: 7 out of 10.