Striptease

Reviewed by: Joe Blenkle

Rating:

Cast: Demi Moore, Burt Reynolds, Armand Assante, Ving Rhames and Robert Patrick

Studio: Castle Rock Entertainment

Producer: Mike Lobell

Director: Andrew Bergman

Screenplay: Andrew Bergman

MPAA Rating: R

Release Date: June 28, 1996

Running Time: 115 Minutes

	Striptease photo by Kerry Hayes (c) 1996 Castle Rock Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.

    Castle Rock Entertainment's Striptease is a highly entertaining two hours of film, but moviegoers should be forewarned to expect more tease than strip.

    Yes, there is a fair amount of nudity in the movie, but it is used as a vehicle to carry the film (probably to the top of the box office) than to substantiate the plot. Striptease would have worked equally well if star Demi Moore had been cast as a barmaid, waitress or in some other seemingly dead-end profession.

    The real story behind Striptease is former FBI secretary Erin Grant's (Moore) attempts to raise enough money to regain custody of her seven-year-old daughter Angela (Rumer Willis - Moore's real-life daughter). Grant lost her FBI job because her ex-husband is a felon, but because her husband has a job and she doesn't, an unsympathetic judge awards custody to her ex.

    Grant reluctantly becomes a stripper where she can earn a lot of money fast and despite hating her job becomes the favorite among the "Eager Beaver" strip club's patrons.

    As I said, this film would have worked if you'd plugged Moore's character into a different profession, but certainly as a stripper, the film will carry a lot more allure to the male audiences which it is undoubtedly geared toward.

    And yes, Moore does appear nude, but in a teasingly slow mode as she never appears completely in the buff until mid-film - and the film is more "top" oriented than "bottom," except for a few brief glimpses of various posteriors.

    Moore's "strips" are both alluring and sexy and three children have done nothing to detract from Moore's athletic-looking, firm body.

    Striptease is billed as a comedy, but has its touches of drama as well, as Grant faces up against a corrupt politician and criminals.

    Burt Reynolds plays the buffoonish Congressman David Dilbeck, a sex-starved elder statesman who has a passion for nudie bars and Moore's character in particular.

    Ving Rhames is the Eager Beaver's bouncer, an imposing man who befriends Grant and would do anything to help and protect her. Rhames has some of the best and funniest lines in the movie and steals every scene he's in.

    Armand Assante plays Al Garcia, a Detective assigned to investigate several murders which are related to Grant, Congressman Dilbeck and the criminal businessmen who have him in their pocket. In the role of Darrell, Grant's psycho ex-husband, is Robert Patrick.  Return to The Movie Corner