Former F. B. I. Secretary Erin Grant loses her job as well as custody of her daughter to her deadbeat, small-time crook of an ex-husband, due to his arrest record. Erin Grant turns to stripping at a nightclub as a means to support herself. When performing one night, one of the members of the audience gets a little too up close and personal with her, leading to Congressman Dilbeck attacking him. One of the spectators who is besotted with Erin plans to help her get her daughter back but things however go very awry.
Based on Carl Hiassen's 1993 best-selling novel, Striptease was noted at the time for its lead star Demi Moore receiving a then-unprecedented $12.5 million for the role. Making her the highest-paid actress at the time. Not to mention that the movie's overall budget was $50 million, one has to ask was it all money well spent? The short answer from critics at the time was a resounding no, and it's not really at all difficult to see why. Although touted as being as being one of the worst movies of all time, It strikes me as just a bit on the harsh side. It's far from being a good movie but is hardly worthy of such dubious notoriety. Adapted for the screen by Andrew Bergman who up until then and still has had a rather unremarkable career although he did have a writing credit on the classic spoof western Blazing Saddles. The movie suffers from Bergman being unable to successfully blend the genres of political thriller with satirical comedy so that it feels decidedly uneven.
Purportedly in preparation for the role, Moore visited strip clubs in New York City, California, and Florida, and she met with strippers. And exercised while practicing yoga and it certainly paid off in terms of her being able to perform on stage. However, the same can't be said for her aptitude for comedy which she displays little of. Strangely enough, given that she is the lead in what is essentially meant to be a comedy. Her character is essentially relegated to playing it straight, with any comedic slack that there is taken up by Burt Reynolds, as the sleazy congressman, Ving Rhames as her Bouncer friend, who plays protector to her while pursuing insurance scams involving cockroaches in yogurt as a means to sue the manufacturers and Robert Patrick as her no-good ex-husband. The sight of Reynolds in a stetson hat and boots, while covered in Vaseline, does raise a titter. But beyond that, the laughs are in short supply, and a talented supporting cast feels wasted.
The plot is rather superfluous and shallow, if not more than a little contrived, and proceeds to degenerate into utter stupidity in its final reel. As a sleazy political drama/thriller rather than a comedy it may have worked, if Bergman pointed it in that direction as he clearly doesn't know how to juggle its contrasting thematic elements. But as it stands the end result is a missed opportunity of fairly major proportions. As well as a failed attempt to prove that Moore could pull off comedy.
Based on Carl Hiassen's 1993 best-selling novel, Striptease was noted at the time for its lead star Demi Moore receiving a then-unprecedented $12.5 million for the role. Making her the highest-paid actress at the time. Not to mention that the movie's overall budget was $50 million, one has to ask was it all money well spent? The short answer from critics at the time was a resounding no, and it's not really at all difficult to see why. Although touted as being as being one of the worst movies of all time, It strikes me as just a bit on the harsh side. It's far from being a good movie but is hardly worthy of such dubious notoriety. Adapted for the screen by Andrew Bergman who up until then and still has had a rather unremarkable career although he did have a writing credit on the classic spoof western Blazing Saddles. The movie suffers from Bergman being unable to successfully blend the genres of political thriller with satirical comedy so that it feels decidedly uneven.
Purportedly in preparation for the role, Moore visited strip clubs in New York City, California, and Florida, and she met with strippers. And exercised while practicing yoga and it certainly paid off in terms of her being able to perform on stage. However, the same can't be said for her aptitude for comedy which she displays little of. Strangely enough, given that she is the lead in what is essentially meant to be a comedy. Her character is essentially relegated to playing it straight, with any comedic slack that there is taken up by Burt Reynolds, as the sleazy congressman, Ving Rhames as her Bouncer friend, who plays protector to her while pursuing insurance scams involving cockroaches in yogurt as a means to sue the manufacturers and Robert Patrick as her no-good ex-husband. The sight of Reynolds in a stetson hat and boots, while covered in Vaseline, does raise a titter. But beyond that, the laughs are in short supply, and a talented supporting cast feels wasted.
The plot is rather superfluous and shallow, if not more than a little contrived, and proceeds to degenerate into utter stupidity in its final reel. As a sleazy political drama/thriller rather than a comedy it may have worked, if Bergman pointed it in that direction as he clearly doesn't know how to juggle its contrasting thematic elements. But as it stands the end result is a missed opportunity of fairly major proportions. As well as a failed attempt to prove that Moore could pull off comedy.