User reviews

for those of you who don't know (and I'm sure there's a lot of you) Strip Tease was actually a book written by Carl Hiaasen, and a damn good book at that. Brilliant characters, an intriguing storyline, hilarious incidents, sex, violence, the works...

I gave the movie a 5 because Robert Patrick and Burt Reynolds were absolutely hysterical and on-point (I'm sure THEY actually READ the book), but aside from those two gems this movie was a disgrace.

What happened to the plot?!? What happened to like half the story?!? What happened to my self respect?!? Why change the ending?!? The story was enthralling and thoroughly enjoyable when I read the book, the movie (breasts considered) not so much..

There's a gratuitous 3 minute topless dancing scene, followed by 3 minutes of Demi and the little girl crying and being superdramatic. CHOOSE which audience you're marketing this movie towards! Women won't respect a nonsense T&A fest and men don't want to see a bunch of sappy overdramatics when the movie was advertised like a softcore porno flick.

The fact that a BOOK about strippers was exponentially better than the movie.. that's saying something.

• Anonymous Disgrunted Hiaasen Fan

...the flop that deserves six of its Razzies and the nomination for Worst Picture of the Decade?

I think, "Striptease" (1996) directed by Andrew Bergman based on the book by Carl Hiaasen, is all of the above - a curious mixture of laughs, satire, absurdism, darkness, silliness, and over-seriousness. The latter comes from Demi Moore who plays Erin Grant, the FBI secretary - losing her job and the custody over her daughter to no good small time crook wheelchairs stealing husband (Robert Patrick looking and acting like a stoned, redneck version of Gary Oldman) and who takes a job as an exotic dancer in the local club "Eager Beaver" to earn money for her court appeal. In the club she becomes the hottest attraction and meets many...interesting characters, the most colorful being, of course Congressman David Dilbeck (Burt Reynolds) who "just loves naked women. It's a character flaw" and who is absolutely smitten by Erin. Erin also makes friends with a club bouncer, Shad (Ving Rhames) who is perhaps the best thing in the movie - clever, sharp, sarcastic, with the great sense of humor. One scene where Shad tells to Dilbeck's bodyguards that Meryl Streep used to work in "Eager Beaver" as an exotic dancer and they seem to believe him is brilliant. If only everything had been as good as he was we would've had a really great movie. What do we have now? Well, Demi Moore looks really good with the minimum clothes on. I mean, the woman was a 33 year old mother of three at the time and her body was marvel to behold. I just think that she was too serious, intense, and solemn doing the striptease numbers – after all it is not only strip it is tease, too. It goes to her acting in the movie in general. Reynolds seemed to have a lot of fun with his sleazy drunk Congressman David Dilbeck, election-day choice of Christian groups and a lot of laughs comes from his mannerism and quotes. There are plenty of laughs, actually, in "Striptease" but quite often they seem like the wrong and unintentional type for the movie material.

Who had the best laugh? I'd guess, Demi Moore did after been paid $12.5 million – one of the highest paychecks for an actress back then.

Striptease

Dire, but strangely fascinating, Demi Moore vehicle about a single mother who turns to a life of stripping in order to gain custody of her daughter. (Robert Patrick is the drug-stealing ex-husband who gains custody of the child.) Ving Rhames is a bodyguard and Burt Reynolds has a nice co-star role as a sleazy political candidate. This movie was extremely bashed when it came out, but it's better than "Showgirls," and sort of watchable. If you don't expect much of a story, then this is for you...be warned, however, that there is a lot of stripteasing in this film.

** / *****

I read the book first and I can only say that I feel sorry for its author, Carl Hiassen. The book was an extremely funny satire of capitalism, politics, gender roles, etc. and the film was just an excuse for the lead actor to show off her surgically enhanced body. I mentioned the book in a university tutorial for my course on literary satire, and no one would believe me that it was not trash because they could not separate it from the movie which followed it. Too bad - the book is good enough to have warranted a script that stays true to the original story rather than exchange wit and sophistication for extended dance sequences and the lubricatory possibilities of yogurt.

The summary line above came from my wife after seeing Andrew Bergman take a really funny book by Carl Hiaasen and turn it into a "Sincere Sally Field Gutsy Mom Works As A Stripper Even Though It Means Shame And Disgust Because It's For Her *Daughter*!!!" movie.

Ving Rhames and Burt Reynolds deliver deft, wonderful performances that are completely sunk by Demi Moore's Jawline Of Grim Determination. The book pointed out that the ones degraded by stripping are actually the men, who turn into drooling, brainless fools, while the women have the control and collect the money. The movie has to add a scene where the daughter sees the mother dancing (oh horrors!) and the mother has to explain her Sordid Living to the Innocent Babe.

Also, in the book, Erin is a top dancer who doesn't have the biggest boobs in the room, but who gets the best tips because she actually knows how to dance. So who do they get to play her? Bebe Neuwirth? Noooo. Demi Moore. All tits and no dancing talent.

Demi Moore was apparently determined to keep this movie from being seen as a comedy. The worst thing to say about this movie is that she succeeded completely.

Demi Moore reinvented herself from a hot cutsie girl in the 80's to a powerful sexy woman in the 90's. She used that power to create some pretty dynamic roles at the time, G.I Jane being her best effort.

Striptease is not the greatest movie but it does have enough highlights to make it an ok watch. Rhames is enjoyable as is Reynolds.

Moore however owns the screen on this one. She had power at this time and she knew it and was happy to wield it. Good for her.

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 ****

This film begins with a woman named "Erin Grant" (Demi Moore) arguing for custody of her young daughter before a judge. Unfortunately, the judge rules against her because of her current occupation as a stripper even though she has explained to him that she was fired due to her husband's criminal misconduct. Not long afterward, while performing her routine at the stripclub, a brawl occurs involving a person who just happens to be a morally flawed United States Congressman named "David Dilbeck" (Burt Reynolds). Yet, even though he was wearing a disguise to hide his true identity, he is still recognized by a couple of people. And this creates a huge problem for them as Congressman Dilbeck has surrounded himself with people who are intent on keeping him in power and are willing to take whatever measures are necessary to keep his reputation intact. And their ruthlessness becomes even more pronounced as his lust for Erin increases-with those able to identify him becoming prime targets. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an extremely uneven film due in large part to the ambivalent direction, meandering plot and horrific acting of Burt Reynolds. On the other side of the equation, I liked the performances of Ving Rhames (as the bouncer named "Shad") and the aforementioned Demi Moore who I thought was absolutely sensational. That being said, in spite of the rather obvious flaws, I still liked this movie to a certain degree and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Some people take both life and cinema far too seriously . Look at STRIPTEASE for example . The opening scene takes place in a court where Erin Grant is fighting for custody of her child against her husband Darell who has a serious problem with drugs . The judge decides that because Erin is unemployed pill popping Darell should get the kid ! Erin realises that the only way to get the kid back is if she gets a job as a stripper at The Eager Beaver nightclub and on her first night there she blows away the opposition . Got that a woman who has never stripped before is miles better than than the old pros who have been doing their dance routine for years . In fact she's so good Congressman Dilbeck feels duty bound to save her from a punter by hitting a drunken punter over the head with a champagne bottle . Hmm so you've got a senior politician who frequents The Eager Beaver nightclub which obviously doesn't harm his career prospects and assaults a fellow patron andnobody calls the press !

That's just the start of the movie ( And it gets more and more incredible as it goes along as if you hadn't noticed ) but people come on to this site to say what a terrible movie it is ! Thanks for pointing this out but it's not actually supposed to be a great movie is it ? It's done tongue in cheek with Burt Reynolds giving a career worst performance as Congressman Dilbeck . This alone would have made it watchable enough without Demi Moore flashing her silicon enhanced breasts around at every opportunity . If you think this is a serious movie then perhaps Ving Rhames role as Shad is a knowingly ironic character: " No it's a f--kin' shrimp . Course it's a roach " which is a clever way of explaining to the less clued up audience members that it's not a shrimp , a roach or a turkey - It's a tongue in cheek movie

It may not have mirrored the book, but it has its own charm. I haven't read the book, so maybe that's why I can judge the movie on its own merits.

Ving Rhames is terrific-- honestly, has he ever had a clunker of a performance? Demi is luscious (the dance scenes, and the cute scene where she's getting dressed/dancing after a shower), and Burt Reynolds is hilarious. I really loved the congressman character meeting the right wing group slathered in vaseline. "Fresh, hot, lint!" indeed! Give it a whirl... it ain't Citizen Kane, but it ain't Battlefield Earth either.

In Florida, the FBI secretary Erin Grant (Demi Moore) loses her job because of the arrest record of her scum husband Darrell Grant (Robert Patrick). Immediately after, she loses the custody of her seven-year-old daughter Angela (Rumer Willis) since she is unemployed, and Darell is a C. I. of the police. Now she needs to raise fifteen thousand dollars to appeal by a court of higher instance to retrieve Angela and becomes a stripper at the Eager Beaver strip-club. Meanwhile, Darrell uses Angela to steal wheelchair from hospitals to sell them later. At the club, Erin is worshiped by her fans and is well treated by her fellow strippers and colleagues, including the bouncer Shad (Ving Rhames) that protects her. When Congressman David Dilbeck (Burt Reynolds) goes to the club, he has a crush on Erin and hits a daring client that invaded her stage with a bottle of champagne. He is recognized by her fan Jerry Killian (William Hill) that promises Erin to use this information to force Dilbeck to help her to retrieve the custody of Angela. However, Dilbeck is the chairman of the sugar committee and is connected to powerful and dangerous people in Florida related to sugar business that protect his image. Soon Miami P. D, Lt. Al Garcia (Armand Assante), who is on vacation with his wife nearby a lake, finds Jerry's body and interviews Erin, since Jerry's house is full of photos of Erin, and she explains that he was trying to help her. When the Lawyer Alan Mordecai (Stuart Pankin) gets the photos of Dilbeck in the club, he decides to blackmail the congressman. Soon his body is found, and Lt. Garcia believes Erin is in danger, but she needs money and has to continue working as a stripper.

Despite the great cast and soundtrack, "Striptease" (1996) is a disappointing movie. The plot is lost among several genres and none of them works well. The comedy is unfunny, the thriller is silly, and the drama is shallow. Names like Armand Assante, Ving Rhames, Robert Patrick, Paul Guilfoyle and Burt Reynolds are wasted in a poor screenplay. Demi Moore's face is still very beautiful, but her excessively buff body with silicone lost the femininity. Therefore, her nude is disappointing. The soundtrack with Annie Lennox among others is the plus in this forgettable movie. I revisited "Striptease" yesterday to see whether it has improved after almost thirty years, but unfortunately it has not. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Striptease"

This is a very misunderstood film. It's not some sleaze erotic thriller but a comedy drama. It can be off putting when you go from joke to a serious part of the story, and there might be a little too much stripping but it's not that bad. The story has murder mystery and and full belly laughs and a few terrific one liners. If it was made by the Coens everyone would call it a masterpiece. You shouldn't watch this film expecting something serious, just go with it and see how much fun you have. Burt Reynolds gives the performance of his career, Ving Rhames as good as ever, and there's Robert Patrick playing a loser so with out morals he steals wheelchairs for a living. Films like this, that are neither one thing or the other, are always uneven. But the director/writer manages to pull it off. It could be better but it could have been a whole lot worse.

Striptease (1996) is a movie that I recently watched for the first time in a long time on Tubi. The storyline follows a mother going through a divorce who loses visitation of her daughter due to a lack of steady income. She becomes a stripper to build the security she needs to get her daughter back and establish herself. The stripper life will throw her a series of twists and turns.

This movie is directed by Andrew Bergman (It Could Happen to You) and stars Demi Moore (Ghost), Burt Reynolds (Deliverance), Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction), Robert Patrick (Terminator 2), Paul Guilfoyle (Airforce One) and Armand Assante (Gotti).

This has an absolutely awesome cast that was well selected and fit the storyline perfectly. The strippers were gorgeous. Burt Reynolds was hilarious, and the Vaseline scene is legendary. There's some good humor throughout the movie as Ving Rhames was fantastic and the anaconda scene always makes me crack up. The soundtrack was solid also. The storyline was fairly straightforward but did a great job of depicting strippers as ordinary people with ordinary problems.

Overall, this gets way more criticism than it should. This is entertaining and worth a watch. I would score this a 7/10 and recommend seeing it once.

I am a big Carl Hiaasen fan and, while this may not be his best work, it certainly exposes the flaws in Florida politics for all the world to see. While certain environmentalists are celebrating Governor Charlie's transfer of $1.7 billion to Big Sugar, you can see in this film, even in a comical way, how they have out congressmen in the bag.

Demi has come up against DCF and has to do anything to get her children back. Unfortunately, she has come into the clutches of Congressman Burt and his evil henchmen. I really didn't think her performance was all that terrible, and I certainly appreciated the new work she had on display in a very skintastic moment, just as I appreciated seeing the lovely Pandora Peaks, Rina Riffel (Candyman 3), another skintastic performance by Dina Spybey, and that snakey performance of Barbara Alyn Woods. Let's hear it for all the fine performance that took our attention away from, well, I guess there wasn't much else.

Ving Rhames was good as usual, and I did enjoy Armand Assante. But, that aside, it was the performance on stage that really stand out.

The novel "Striptease" was everything you could ask for in a novel. The movie is the complete opposite and a major disappointment for me. I thought Demi was a decent choice and also applauded the casting of Robert Patrick as her good-for-nothing ex, and Ving Rhames as a bodyguard at the club.

However the entire thing ended up being a mess, and I can only hope I can erase the image of Burt Reynolds in his boxers, smothered with petroleum jelly from head to toe, from my mind.

Read the book!!

The poster is attractive, and Demi Moore has definitely had dancing lessons in how to gyrate in strip dancing. It is not a real world, but her performance is believable. Even Ving Rhymes looks as though he can act in this film. Her estranged husband is despicable, but his performance is good. The detective also put in a good performance, but you weren't sure if he was one of those seedy characters that frequent a strip club. Burt Reynolds was just himself. I had no sympathy for Moore's character. She is prepared to dance for $2,000 and $5,000 respectively. Just how far would you go just to earn money? The film ends up being a comedy because it just cannot be taken seriously. Only the performances make this film commendable.

This soft-core glossy skin flick (which is what it is, if you're honest about it) actually was better than I anticipated. the story was interesting all the way through, featured some great female bodies of course, but had decent acting and photography. The nudity involved breasts, nothing else and there was no sex. Demi Moore looked awesome at times; too tough-looking at other times.

Robert Patrick and Burt Reynolds played over-the-top characters who got a bit annoying after awhile. Reynolds is particularly sleazy and they use him in this film to denigrate elected officials and people who speak out for "family values." Hollywood loves to trash the latter, having no values of its own. They also trash Republicans and a group called "Young Christians," just more typical cheap shots of the Libeal film-making industry. They are unrelenting.

The only likable character in the movie is played by Armand Assante, although the film makes you root for Moore in her custody case.

I understand the book is much. Gosh, that's a surprise!

I have considered this long and hard, but can honestly conclude that I have never seen a worst film than this. Most films in "worst films" lists are low budget films that were rushed B movies that turned into D movies. But Striptease has no excuses. The story is taken from a good book and made into the worst script I have ever heard. Of course, the acting, direction and script are all bad, but with Striptease they are so consistently awful throughout the film that it really defies belief.

And don't even mention Demi making her character such a mindnumbingly clichéd "doing it for the kids" mom! Starpower at its worst? Nothing can beat this.

Two amazing things about this movie; no, make that three:(1) That Carl Hiaasen actually liked the adaptation of his hilarious novel. Hiaasen is still one of the funniest writers around(if you read STRIPTEASE and liked it, I highly recommend all of the other novels he wrote by himself), but this proves his taste is questionable. This movie, unlike the novel, is painfully unfunny. There are occasional good lines from the novel(like when Ving Rhames(the only good actor here, along with Demi Moore's daughter Rumer Willis) telling two security guards that Meryl Streep used to strip under the name Chesty LeFrance), and even a couple of original ones(like Moore refusing to dance with cream corn because she doesn't want it to go up her "hoo-ha"), but the motivations, the characters, and the story are all hacked away; (2) that Andrew Bergman is responsible for this mess. After all, from his track record as writer(THE IN-LAWS, FLETCH, co-writer of SOAPDISH) and director(THE FRESHMAN, HONEYMOON IN VEGAS(both of which he also wrote), IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU), you'd think this was someone who knows funny. But he goes so wrong here it's unbelievable. Typical is the scene where Burt Reynolds character, who we know is a lech, delivers a sermon on "family values." Did Bergman think he was actually breaking new ground here? Contrast that to a similar scene in the book, where we hear(though don't see) his character deliver an off-the-cuff speech on Israel which works precisely because he's feeling horny. This is funny. What's in the movie isn't; (3) That Demi Moore keeps appearing in novel adaptations when she apparently doesn't understand what made the source work. This is the third novel adaptation(THE SCARLET LETTER, THE JUROR) in a row she appeared in, and they were all awful adaptations of fine books. Okay, I'm not a big fan of hers, but she's done good work(G.I. JANE, IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK), and this isn't it.

Hey, come on, guys - where's your sense of humor?? The movie is based on a book by Carl Hiassen, the master of comedy/thrillers set in southern Florida. Demi Moore, Burt Reynolds and especially Ving Rhames bring the characters to life, and then some! Doesn't seem realistic? Have you seen John Sayles' "Sunshine State"? This is how the "other half" lives, believe it or not... And even not, it's a very funny film. Demi deserves a lot of credit for taking on this quite challenging role. She's got a great body, and more power to her!! May the best woman win!! And she does!!!

In addition, Burt Reynolds once again proves that he has a marvelous sense of comedy timing, character creation, and isn't afraid to make a fool of himself. And Ving...., he's just marvelous. For a good time, rent "Striptease". And bring along your friends.

Different people watching this film see different movies. T and A people see naked and think great. The rest see this as crap. Except for Carl Hiaasen fans. I'm one of the latter and since I've read the book I can't help but see this as an attack on political corruption and environmental folly.

After losing her job as an office clerk for the FBI due to her ex-husbands recent criminal proclivities, Erin Grant (Demi Moore) resorts to stripping to support herself and her daughter as well as the high legal fees of a custody battle with said ex. When a corrupt congressman takes a lewd interest in Erin, she is drawn into a profitable but dangerous situation involving Florida sugar growers.

Become a Carl Hiaasen fan and see this movie for what it really is and delegate the stripper bar to just the setting, much as a spaceship is in a sci-fi movie. It's not a great movie, but when can see the content rather than the package, it is worth far more than a 4.3. Burt Reynolds character is worth much more than that. It deserves a 5 or so. I give it a 6 just for Hiaasen.

It is a good movie. It is not a great movie. It did not have great writing. It has okay writing. It has great acting. And some very pretty women in it. It is okay.