The Players Club

Fair B quality movie depicting slice of black American strip club life in southern USA.Story is good social commentary on said lifestyle's evils and dangers but the movie suffers from a rushed directorial style and lackluster performances even by pro actors who have displayed better in the past.This was probabably caused by lack of directorial discipline on Ice Cube's part due to budget constraints.You can realy tell the veteran actors were not paid properly and just cruised along as a favor for Cube.Too bad for the movie's story was a good idea,setting up for great drama,action,comedy,sex,social commentary and entertainment much like the winning formula of SHOWGIRLS.I vote for a proper remake of this one!But as of now,avoid this movie unless you really want a peek into that lifestyle or are a big fan of any of the lead actors.Do not expect much sex scenes though for the focus on this one is social commentary......

Unremarkable but ambitious story from writer-director Ice Cube. A young woman recalls her emotionally wrenching experiences while working at a raunchy black strip club, specifically having to appease the sleazy customers, her skirmishes with reprehensible rivals, and wild parties on the side, all while maintaining her dignity as she strived for a better life. Intriguing story is accompanied by a talented cast, powerful moments, and some fine performances, but too often resorts to familiar plot twists and lame stereotypes. Not a bad piece of work for first-time director Cube, but would've benefited from more creativity. **

In an ideal guided tour about freakishly bad movies from 1977 onwards, The Players' Club should deserve a stop. It's got a terrible storyline that, along with the not-so-subtle clinging onto (or blatantly ripping off) the tradition of blaxploitation, makes up for a trite, short-living revival of that genre. But also it's one of those bad movies that are so bad you can't take your eyes off of it. Watch out for the (so fake it hurts) catfight scene between the "good" stripper Lisa Raye and the "bad", lesbian, vicious, bleached blonde, whatshername stripper. The small part of Ice Cube himself as the stereotype bad guy and the obvious "you can make all the money you want, but don't let money make a slave out of you" message (you're gonna hear it so many times throughout the movie it's gonna ring in your head like a f***ing bell for hours afterwards !) top it all. Rent it, but only if you know how much it's gonna suck.

When Diana gets pregnant in college she moves in her with boyfriend who soon tires of her and moves out. When working in a shoe shop Diana gets met by two strippers who invite her down to try out for the Players Club where she gets taken on. Given the name Diamond by her boss, Diana also gets her cousin involved in the club while she also tries to look after her son and stay in school. Eventually the drama of the club gets intense and catches her up.

I like Ice Cube as an actor. He does stay in the `safe' comedy roles but he has also moved on well since his debut in Boyz n'da Hood. Here he takes on his directorial debut and he does OK. I mean the shots are nice and the camera moves around well enough. Sadly he is let down on nearly every other front. First off, the plot is pretty poor. It's told in flashback and just seems to involve everyone swearing as our heroine tries to go her own way and move up and out etc etc. We are `treated' to the odd dance and fight scene but really the bits don't all come together and it just feels like everyone is swearing over nothing all the time.

The acting is surprisingly bad from several main sources. Lisa Raye's narration is terrible but her performance is actually alright. Calhoun is good looking and quite good but that's about it. Mac is terrible, not funny or believable. Foxx is not bad but could have done more. Wilson and Givens are ugly and nasty – they can't act and I find it hard to believe people actually paid Wilson to get naked!

This film is basically a modern blackploitation film – made for black people to come and watch regardless of quality. The plot is average at best and the performances are mostly poor. The plot is episodic and lacks drive or drama and will leave you feeling bored and distracted. Overall Cube may have directing skills worth watching again but lets hope his next vehicle is better than this.

I had pretty low expectations for "The Players Club". It was directed by Ice Cube, who I never knew had been behind the camera, and it's the only movie he ever made, suggesting that it wasn't particularly successful.

My expectations were well and truly surpassed. "The Players Club" does get off to a rough start. It has a generally amateurish feel to the shots and edits, or perhaps just a low budget feel. Also the pacing seems strange - quite a lot seems to happen very quickly, and I felt the need to come up for breath.

But I persevered. There's just so much to like about "The Players Club". It's got a great ensemble cast, many entertaining characters, and quite a few unexpected twists and turns.

I say check it out.