Striptease (1996)

Striptease is a 1996 American erotic black comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by Andrew Bergman, and s...

Striptease is a 1996 American erotic black comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by Andrew Bergman, and starring Demi Moore, Armand Assante, Ving Rhames, Robert Patrick and Burt Reynolds. Based on Carl Hiaasen's novel of the same name, the film centers on an FBI secretary-turned-stripper who becomes involved in both a child-custody dispute and corrupt politics.  {full_page}

Moore was paid a then-unprecedented $12.5 million to star in Striptease, making her the highest paid film actress up to that time. The film was released theatrically on June 28, 1996, by Columbia Pictures and grossed $113 million worldwide against its $50 million budget. However, it was universally panned by critics, and has come to be evaluated as one of the worst movies ever made. It won six Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture. The debacle of the film marked a downturn in Moore's career.

Former FBI secretary Erin Grant (Demi Moore) loses custody of her young daughter Angela (Rumer Willis) to her ex-husband Darrell (Robert Patrick), a criminal who cost Erin her job. To afford an appeal to get her daughter back, Erin becomes a stripper at the Eager Beaver, a strip club in Miami.

A Congressman named David Dilbeck (Burt Reynolds) visits the club and becomes infatuated with Erin. Aware of Dilbeck's embarrassing indulgences, another Eager Beaver patron approaches Erin with a plan to manipulate the congressman to settle the custody battle and help her get Angela back. However, Dilbeck has powerful business connections who want to ensure he remains in office. Consequently, those who can embarrass him in an election are murdered. Meanwhile, Erin retrieves her daughter from Darrell's negligent care.

Dilbeck's personal interest in Erin persists, and she is invited to perform privately for him. He asks her to become his lover and later his wife, despite his staff's concerns that she knows too much. A debate occurs as to whether to kill Erin or simply keep her quiet by threatening to take away her daughter. However, Erin and a police officer, Al Garcia (Armand Assante), begin to suspect the congressman's guilt in the murders, and Erin concocts a plan to bring the congressman to justice. She tricks him into confessing on tape, and he is soon after arrested. Thus, Erin regains full custody of Angela, quits stripping and gets back her job in the FBI. Darrell returns to prison after he is convicted of his crimes.

Cast

Demi Moore as Erin Grant, a former FBI secretary-turned-stripper who is the most popular stripper of the Eager Beaver, a well-attended strip club in Miami, Florida 

Armand Assante as Lt. Al Garcia 

Ving Rhames as Shad, the Eager Beaver's head security 

Robert Patrick as Darrell Grant 

Burt Reynolds as Congressman David Dilbeck, the main antagonist of the movie and a powerful and corrupt congressman who has a creepy passion for Erin Grant 

Siobhan Fallon Hogan as Rita Grant 

Rumer Willis as Angela Grant, Erin's daughter.

Paul Guilfoyle as Malcolm Moldowsky 

Stuart Pankin as Alan Mordecai 

PaSean Wilson as Sabrina Hepburn 

Dina Spybey as Monique, Jr., a sexy and popular foreign stripper who comes from Paris, France 

Barbara Alyn Woods as Lorelei 

Pandora Peaks as Urbana Sprawl, a popular busty stripper from Fort Lauderdale, Florida 

Rena Riffel as Tiffany 

Gary Basaraba as Alberto

Castle Rock Entertainment produced Striptease. The film is based on the novel Strip Tease by Floridian crime writer Carl Hiaasen. It was published in 1993 and was a bestseller.

The screenplay itself was written by Andrew Bergman, who also directed. According to one critic, the novel's plot is "quite faithfully followed" by the screenplay, but in bringing the complicated story to the screen, "Bergman forgets to explain persuasively what a nice girl like Erin – smart, spunky and a former FBI employee – is doing in a dump called the Eager Beaver."

Bergman says, "I loved the book, and the funny thing was, [author Carl] Hiaasen loved the movie. He thought it was really, really true to the book, which I wanted to do! I don't regret it. I was treated like a freakin’ child molester for making that movie, but so be it."  "Striptease was hard because the tone was so crazy," said Bergman. "How do you stay true to the tone? You have to be true to those strip clubs. There's always some woman with like 50 triple-Ds, they always advertise, and you have to have someone like that. To actually see it, you’re walking this fine line. I didn't want to sanitize it, and I didn't, and I got my ass kicked for it."

Originin Wikipedia....