Review of Striptease

Time to see more of Demi Moore (pun definitely intended) with the movie that started the nail on the coffin of her acting career, Striptease. Based on the book by Carl Hiaasen, the movie follows Erin Grant (Demi Moore) an FBI agent-turned stripper who’s in the middle of a custody battle over her daughter (Rumer Willis) with the help of Lieutenant Al Garcia (Armand Assante). However, said battle requires a visit to Congressman David Dilbeck (Burt Reynolds) as she conjures a plan to remove him from office after one patron who volunteered as an insider was murdered. Unlike Showgirls, which was a drama and tries to take itself seriously, Striptease is a comedy with satirical jabs at corrupt Floridian politicians. The main problem with the film, however, is that the tone is all over the map, as it cannot decide whether to be funny or serious. That tonal shift might have been caused by Demi Moore, who knew too well about Erin and made her into a radical feminist who opposes her job. Meanwhile, she’s surrounded by whacky comic minor characters like Shad the bouncer (Ving Rhimes) and her ex-husband Darrell (Robert Patrick). Part of me wanted to laugh because these minor characters from the book do deserve fit on the big screen, but when Erin’s arc came, the movie fell apart. I swear, half the time, I kept wondering why she chose a cushy strip joint like the Eager Beaver instead of staying in the FBI. Despite Hiaasen’s approval of the film adaptation, Striptease is a mess and did not live up to its potential as a hilarious political satire.

(1 Shawshank Redemption Poster out of 5)
(FWI, major BOOOOOOO to Castle Rock for that joke)