Just Can't Get Enough

Given the subject matter, you expect this independent film by director/writer David Payne to be full of naked bodies gyrating to the beat of club music--certainly not a serious movie with plenty of bite. But JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH scores in both directions, and in spite of the abundance of skin on display it is the story rather than the bodies that linger in mind after the movie ends.

As seen through the eyes of club worker Chad (Johnathan Abue, playing a role loosely based on real-life Dan Peterson), JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH is surprisingly dark and surprisingly factual. Steve Banerjee (Shelley Malil) is just another club owner until he stumbles into the idea of male strippers playing to a women-only audience, and the ringing cash register attracts ambitious and obnoxious choreographer Nick Denoia (Peter Nevargic). Once Denoia gets wise to Banerjee's shady dealings he quickly blackmails the club owner into signing away the touring rights to the show. But when it comes to underhanded manipulations, Banerjee proves Denoia's equal and then some: the sex, drugs, and rock and roll atmosphere of the club quickly gives way to a headlong rush into murder, and the ride is straight down all the way.

Payne's script isn't as tight as it might be, and it sometimes goes off on tangents that add little to the overall impact of the film, but the actors are first rate all the way and increasingly convoluted nature of the conspiracies and counter-conspiracies make for a fascinating ride. And to up the ante, Payne endows the entire film with an unexpectedly dark humor and sense of irony that rings true even in the movie's weaker moments.

Yes, there are plenty of naked bodies (both male and female) on display, but ultimately JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH is less about sex than it is about an extremely unsavory and seldom acknowledged side of the American dream, a drive for success that flattens every moral obstacle it meets. In one particularly memorable scene, Banerjee snarls that Joe Kennedy built his fortune on illegal bootleg liquor and even sitting President Reagan lied to congress to finance a secret war; bending the law is the American way. But not every one can get away with it--and even for those who do there is a price. In this instance the price ranges from emotional deadness to drug addiction to accidental incest to blood. And every one has to pay.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

This sweaty, fun, rocking true-life story of the murder of the Chippendale Dancers founder gives us all the fleshy pizzaz that we never got in Mighty Mike (MM). Released straight to video in 2001, this dynamic indie production never got the exposure (pun intended) nor acclaim it deserved. This B-movie is brilliantly photographed, choreographed, edited with a cast of the most juicy males to ever strip before the cameras--and the major standout whose jaw-dropping sexiness will leave you breathless is the long-forgotten Jonathan Aube. I had never heard the name of this extraordinary Adonis. He has a sweet innocence and little boy charm that enhances the sizzle-quotient of his spectacular torso. Curiously, Aube never once drops his britches. We do see his magnificent chest but although his prancing cohorts live in their G-strings, Aube denies us the thrills of seeing him unclothed. Perhaps there was a stipulation in his contract that he would only go nude from the waist up. Still, what you see bared is memorable. I wonder if the producers of Magic Mike didn't borrow from this forgotten entertainment? In this movie, our adorable Chad becomes obsessively in love with the most colorless, sexless, dreary woman in the world. Naturally, she is horrified that he is a--stripper! At the end, just when the hunky Chad has agreed to strip as a replacement at his club (pant, pant!), his girlfriend appears again and says how proud she is that he's not one of those naked boys. Our hero is so shattered by her observation that he rushes to the toilet to barf. Then he dramatically puts his clothes on and announces that he is no longer a bad boy. He will now be a respectable businessman because he has an MBA! I wish that one day some bright, free-spirited film maker would remake this dazzling little gem, discard all the dialogue, throw in as much gratuitous nudity as possible and somehow induce our glorious Jonathan Aube to do a cameo as a mature, hunky strip boy--and watch the millions roll in! I'll be sitting there on the front row!

This one purports to examine the facts surrounding the sex and criminal scandals during the course of the successful rise of the Chippendale's male strip club and touring shows. If it gets the facts right, it certainly doesn't offer much more than that. It's way too conventional for a low-budget independent film and should have been more unbridled in it's depiction of the sleaze and corruption at the center of the operation (or "Sodom and Gomorrah" as one reviewer aptly puts it). Everything that was seductively addictive about the lifestyle depicted is presented with the clinical precision of a Lifetime movie of the week, complete with soap-operatic personal issues and misfiring attempts at humor. Sadly, it's not the lurid melodrama it wants to be or a startling new presentation of nostalgic debauchery. An antiseptic scandal sheet.

It's a small budget that film makers take a long,long way! It's the amazing story of the Chippendale murders. The true story is brilliantly scripted and is in fact an entertaining black comedy. With outstanding performances from Shelley Malil, Peter Nevargic and JP Pitoc,you are transported to LA nightlife in the eighties and enthralled by the fact that all this really happened.

All in all you have here a really well written, well directed indie film that takes you on a trip through greed, sex, murder and dancing!

You also get to watch gorgeous men getting naked and strutting their stuff to an awesome soundtrack! Yeh!!!

It's a great watch!

I rented this DVD because a guy I knew from college is in it. It's entertaining, but can be best described as somewhat campy.

Apparently, the film is based on true events surrounding the Chippendale's scandal of the 1980's, which includes murder for hire, lots of corporate backstabbing, even a suicide, but it's all portrayed in a very comical way. Most of the acting is laughable; my assumption is the director told the whole cast to be as exaggerated and over-dramatic as possible. The script is ridiculous; just very poorly written (so to be fair to the actors, they didn't have much to work with). The soundtrack is terrific and it has some really colorful moments. There's lots of sex and hard-bodied men gyrating around, so if you're into that, you'll have a ball.

I hope "Just Can't Get Enough" wasn't trying to be a drama because it wound up as a vivid yet clumsy comedy.