Dancing at the Blue Iguana (2000)

A powerful and gritty film
Dancing at the Blue Iguana is a film whose story was developed during a five month improvisational workshop run by director Michael Radford. The story centers around the Blue Iguana, your average seedy strip club, this one located in a faceless semi industrial area of the San Fernando valley part of LA. Each of the lead actors developed their own character and storyline based on their own research.

There have been a couple of pathetic attempts by Hollywood to make a film about the world of strip clubs, namely Showgirls and Demi Moore's abhorrent Striptease, but both of those failed miserably. Dancing at the Blue Iguana succeeds brilliantly. Walk into any average to below average strip club in America and you'll find stories that are not at all dissimilar from the stories developed by the Blue Iguana's five dancers all played brilliantly by Darryl Hannah, Sandra Oh, Charlotte Ayanna, Shiela Kelly and Jennifer Tilly.

The one story element that sticks out as overly fantastic is that of the Russian hit man played by Vladimir Mashkov, who because his target is being held for questioning by the FBI, is stuck in a hotel next to the club and falls for Darryl Hannah's character because he sees her smoking outside the club all the time. But if you replace the Russian hit man with a businessman stuck in town for a week, it still makes sense, and would be much more believable.

Robert Wisdom who plays Eddie, the owner of the club, and W. Earl Brown, who plays his right hand man, Bobby, both do a wonderful job in this movie as well. The camera work is first rate and does a fantastic job capturing the unscripted dialogue. The soundtrack is perfect for this film.

In a film about strip clubs, there is obviously going to be a lot of nudity, and there is in this film, but it's not done in a gratuitous way. The film also kind of starts and ends in the middle of each of the stories, but that's the way life is. I found it just absolutely compelling and rivetting, in some sense the way a train wreck is compelling, because some of these young women have real problems. I could have watched another two hours of this, though, it was that good.

Strip clubs are often sad places, both the dancers and their customers often have melancholy tales. Dancing at the Blue Iguana captures that milieu in a perfectly downbeat way. Really a great film.

Smoke yourself thin
Prior to watching this, I expected something on par with "Striptease" or "Showgirls," which are films about stripping that also attempt to legitimize their titillation by tossing in dramatic subplots. Even with earnest intentions, films of this sort usually end up being clichéd and disappointing. Adding to my trepidation was the fact I had never heard of this film, which was released in 2000, prior to 2006. I finally took a chance on it and gladly admit that it really drew me in and convinced me to care about the characters. Like most people, these women only want to find love and something real in life, yet have lost their centers. Indeed, it is the actresses' portrayals of these characters that make each disappointment and set-back so painful to watch. Sandra Oh really moved me with her performance as Jasmine, a would-be poet who sabotages her own happiness because she has come to believe she cannot trust anyone, including herself. Her performance as a sensitive, intelligent person is the most tragic among these lives because she lacks the confidence to escape her current situation, even though she easily could. As Angel, Darryl Hannah is wonderful as a helplessly dim and hopelessly optimistic dreamer. (She also looks unbelievably fit!) Jennifer Tilly is also very good as the out of control Jo, a woman who tries desperately to win in a man's world, but comes to realize the playing field is not level. Charlotte Ayanna is remarkable as Jessie, an eager to please naïf, who has not yet had her spirit crushed by the weight of the world. Come to think of it, it does all sound very clichéd and there really isn't much of a plot to tie it all together, just several subplots. Nonetheless, the acting is exceptional, made all the more impressive by the fact much of it is improvised. (And yes, the ladies here all smoke, which would ostensibly account for their trim appearances) I enjoyed the entire two hours and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good character study without the hindrance of a plot. The DVD is quite decent, with a very good transfer, optional subtitles and some alternate scenes. This is a bargain for the price.

Sandra Oh, Jennifer Tilly
I'll be honest, any movie where I get to see Sandra Oh and one of the Tilly sisters nekkid is going to get 6 stars from me.
But it actually is a pretty good movie, though it is a little predictable. I would say it is fairly realistic (having dated a couple of strippers), except for the total lack of any lesbianism. But maybe thats just in the bay area.
On the plus side, this is one of the better Jennifer Tilly movies. That girl needs to get a better manager!