Striptease
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: June 28, 1996 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
37
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
18
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
40
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Unfortunately, no one seems to have clued Demi in on the joke. Never known for her light touch, she appears to be act-ing (earnestly, humorlessly) in some other movie altogether, a dreary melodrama about a noble mom fighting for her child. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
While Showgirls was funny the whole way through, Striptease has long, dreary stretches, where you're forced to watch Demi Moore undressing. Read full review
63
The Seattle TimesJeff Shannon
Although it drags for 105 lugubrious minutes, Striptease is not the embarrassment that Showgirls was - not by a long shot. Read full review
50
TimeRichard Schickel
Yes, Burt Reynolds has some dirty, lively moments as a crooked, sex-starved Congressman. But the crazy, nothing-to-lose anarchy of people living below the margin and beyond the fringe is not within Bergman's fastidious reach. Read full review
50
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
The kind of comedy thriller which cancels itself out, this is pitched too close to caricature to engender suspense, but lacks the crisp, acerbic wit which distinguishes Hiaasen's prose. Read full review
50
Orlando SentinelJay Boyar
If you get stuck at Striptease, my advice is to relax and try to enjoy its occasional pleasures. Read full review
50
Washington PostRita Kempley
A sexless seriocomedy that would be a bust without the support of Burt Reynolds and Ving Rhames. The pair bring a much-needed lift to this tale of a mother at the mercy of the system. Without them, the movie is mostly a showcase for the star's personal trainer. Read full review
63
Baltimore SunChris Kridler
Director Andrew Bergman (Honeymoon in Vegas) has a deft comic sensibility, but less skin and more speed would have served him better. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
Striptease has its moments, but by the clunky ending it has gathered more steaminess than steam. Read full review
25
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Daft, excessive, boring. Read full review
40
The TelegraphChris Peachment
Gymnasium attendants may have worked long and hard on Demi's body, but $12.5 million does seem an unconscionable amount for her to show us nothing we haven't seen before. If only half that money had gone on the rest of the film, then we might have had a better rendering of Carl Hiaasen's hilarious novel, which is an excursion into the by-ways of Miami's crazy culture. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
Director/writer Andrew Bergman has a proven flair for screwball humor, and you can still discern traces of the lighthanded romp Striptease might have been if Moore hadn't reshaped the project to accommodate the formidable dimensions of her ego. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
In the wake of the debacle known as Showgirls, Striptease has had to fight to establish its separate identity and credentials. In retrospect, it appears to have been wasted energy. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Striptease lets down its own performers right along with the audience. It’s a Christmas tree someone forgot to string with ornaments. Read full review
25
San Francisco ExaminerBarbara Shulgasser
In order to like Striptease, you have to be a pretty serious Moore fan because although director Andrew Bergman's script (based on the book by Carl Hiaasen) has a few funny lines, this is otherwise one of the dumbest movies I've ever seen. Read full review
40
Washington PostEric Brace
Let's hope Bergman leaves the rest of Hiaasen's books alone. Read full review
40
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
Written mostly as ensemble comedy, Striptease grinds to a halt whenever the star goes through her dance paces, most of which prove awkwardly strenuous and are daring only by the standards of A-list movie stars. Read full review
40
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
Writer-director Andrew Bergman has good fun sending up the weak morals, outrageous hypocrisy and trashy lifestyles of many of his characters, but his satirical aim is wobbly, the jibes and potshots falling short of their mark more often than not. Read full review
25
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
I don't know that Striptease could ever have been anything more than second-rate Elmore Leonard, but Moore's dour lead performance sabotages the film from the get-go. Read full review
40
EmpireWilliam Thomas
Fans of the book will be pleased that most of its highlights remain intact - including Dilbeck covering himself with Vaseline - but overall this is at best patchy, and, more damagingly, not funny. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Striptease isn't in the kind of shape Demi Moore is. While her role as exotic dancer Erin Grant has the actress buffed and toned enough for the cover of Muscle & Fitness, the film itself could use a lot more definition. [28 Jun 1996, p.F1]
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Bergman can't bring individual scenes together into a collective whole, and the ending (which was reshot at the last minute) closes things on a disappointingly limp note. [28 Jun 1996, p.5G]
30
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
This time the filmmakers seem to have forgotten everything they knew, and have endeared themselves only to Ms. Moore, who walked away from this ghastly fiasco with more money than most people could earn in two lifetimes. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
The Fort Lauderdale setting imparts little flavor or atmosphere, and the same goes for the flagrantly unerotic dances. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie's fatal flaw is to treat her [Moore] like a plucky Sally Field heroine. That throws a wet blanket over the rest of the party. Read full review
25
Chicago TribuneGene Siskel
Tired ethnic stereotyping abounds in the Striptease script, which 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. Only her first dance in a modified man's suit approaches the energy of the much better Flashdance. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Striptease is a curious mix of eroticism, comedy, and drama that, instead of blending into a pleasing whole, has a tendency to separate and curdle. Read full review
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