Striptease 1996

Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune: The Striptease script... is at a loss for any kind of drama between Moore's dances. Not for a second do we care about her as a mother, wife or working woman. Read more

Mark Caro, Chicago Tribune: The result is a perversely odd concoction: a comedy that has fun with everything but stripping -- which, post-Showgirls, would seem to wear the biggest bull's-eye. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: This film falls victim to a clash of sensibilities that is fatal. Read more

Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel: If you get stuck at Striptease, my advice is to relax and try to enjoy its occasional pleasures. Read more

Desmond Ryan, Philadelphia Inquirer: Men will doubtless be lured to Striptease by Moore's beautifully sculpted body. But it's the heart she puts into Erin that gives this more erratic than erotic picture the centering presence it needs. Read more

Jeff Shannon, Seattle Times: Bergman, who made The Freshman and Honeymoon in Vegas, provides quotable one-liners for everyone (especially Rhames), and a bevy of strippers lend colorful albeit stereotypically ditzy support. Read more

Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine: Writer-director Andrew Bergman presents [Moore] as a rather abstract object of desire. He wants us to know that his mind, at least, is not in the gutter--can't afford to waste time there, given the amount of busy work he has to. Read more

Susan Stark, Detroit News: Read more

Janet Maslin, New York Times: The film, edited very abruptly in some spots, remains amiable without easily finding a consistent tone for all this. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: Yet another case of the star's salary being much more interesting, and exuberantly vulgar, than anything the screen reveals. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: The Fort Lauderdale setting imparts little flavor or atmosphere, and the same goes for the flagrantly unerotic dances. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Striptease has the inert, cruddy-looking ambiance of a straight-to-tape thriller. Read more

David Ansen, Newsweek: This may sound like a suspense movie, but it's not. There's no mystery (we know who the bad guys are) and the damsel-in-distress angle generates zero tension. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Unfortunately, Striptease's satirical bent, while aimed not only at the sexist attitudes of those who patronize topless joints, but at politicians, right-wing religious fanatics, and lawyers, is unfocused and lacks the requisite viciousness. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Certainly the director, Andrew Bergman, is capable of making a satirical laugh fest... But the problem is with Erin Grant, who interrupts the comic rhythm with her underlying seriousness. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: We can render a verdict on the movie now: It's an interesting misfire. Read more

Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Striptease stinks. Yes, that's a crude, perhaps even rude, assessment. But crude and rude are the two terms that sum up this alleged comedy. Read more

Tom Charity, Time Out: This is pitched too close to caricature to engender suspense, but lacks the crisp, acerbic wit which distinguishes Hiaasen's prose. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: A dark comedy about sleaze, corruption and naughty behavior below the Bible Belt, Striptease doesn't quite come off. Read more

Eric Brace, Washington Post: Who told Demi Moore she can act? She can't. End of discussion. Read more

Rita Kempley, Washington Post: The film's premise is thinner than the heroine's G-string. Read more