Shabby comedy-drama from Carl Hiaasen's novel has former-FBI clerk Demi Moore turning to stripping at the Eager Beaver in order to pay off her legal debts; seems she's in a fight to retrieve her child from her ex, yet the film doesn't see stripping as disreputable, thereby presenting Moore's Erin Grant as a hard-working heroine with a heart of gold for us to sympathize with. Director Andrew Bergman may have helmed this project blindfolded, how else to explain the sketchily-drawn characters, the ridiculous strip-club sequences or a dire subplot involving Congressman Burt Reynolds? Solid supporting turns by Armand Assante as a cop and Ving Rhames as a bouncer give the film its only validity. As for Moore, she isn't a bad actress, nor is she a stupid one, but the $12 million she acquired for her non-performance here seems like a joke on the audience--and on Hollywood. * from ****
Review of Striptease
