If Working Girl epitomizes the '80s babe with a "head for business and a bod for sin," Striptease, released a few years earlier, epitomizes the last gasp of the Mary Richards approach - if Mary Richards worked in a strip joint, anyway.
This approach is made clear at the very start of the film, when Aire, showing up plainly dressed for an interview with her loathsome soon-to-be-boss (played by John Leslie with a hairstyle that resembles that other '70s sitcom figure, Exidor from Mork and Mindy), only to be thrown out when she doesn't want to put out. After finding no work elsewhere, Aire learns the rules of the game, tarting herself up for a crude, nasty pounding session over his desk as he gives her enough spunk to make even Lou Grant finally find some grudging appreciation.
In porn projects of more recent years, our point of view would have likely been with Leslie, an icon, then or now, and certainly capable of carrying the load in a number of ways. Indeed, I could see this being a vignette these days, starting and ending with this sequence, the craven boss played by Tommy Pistol.
Here, Aire's plight is presented as what it is - not a turn-on, but a degradation. The scene is intentionally offputting, as is her makeover. When she is hired to do books at the joint, she immediately goes back to the clothes she feels comfortable in. She's smart, capable, and her circumstances are kept realistic by porn standards - she enjoys going back and forth with one of the money men (Jesse Adams) who keeps the club going, but they consummate their relationship not because of romance, but only when he makes it clear he wants some type of payment to make up for the joint's debts. Aire also never gets to prove herself to her boss' brother (Jess Mancini), who is really running the show - it's only when a dancer (Tanya Lawson) he has a (forgettable) tryst with points out to him that Aire is the one actually doing everything that he realizes how useless his brother is.
Given the setting, and the presence of Leslie, Ron Jeremy (who also likely would have been cast in Leslie's role in many cases), and the always great Colleen Brennan, you'd think the film would be grimier than it is, but compared to, say, Brennan's grimdark Getting Personal, the tone rarely gets as coarse. Two of the sex scenes have a light touch worthy of a much more romantic picture - an encounter between always worthwhile Cara Lott and stalwart Jerry Davis as a stripper and the security guard who idolizes her (a lovely moment only spoilt by the setup seemingly requiring Davis to give a bigger money shot than he manages to give) and the tender session between Aire and Adams back at her apartment, complete with a stuffed animal on her bed just to drive the point of innocence home. This sequence is beautifully lit and kept to just the right length, and Adams' dick is also showcased perfectly (between the flattering haircut and body shots, his adequate acting performance, and his chemistry with Aire, this may be Jesse Adams' best film work).
The main comedy elements in the film are a mixed bag. Club employees Brennan and Jeremy engage in phone sex through the film, not knowing they know each other - Jeremy eventually catches on and pops in to her part of the club to give her a surprise. This is an OK scene but I imagine Brennan fans will be more satisfied by the various shots of her masturbating and engaging in dirty talk. More amusing to me was the presence of Lisa Lake as a woman prowling the audience to find oral gratification, so desperate for beef she even offers to pay for it. The funny climax has her chasing off dedicated raincoater Wesley Emerson, remarking upon his departure what a pervert he must be.
Strippers in nonsex roles pop up through the film, including a few in the competition that serves as a frantic fundraiser. The film is confident enough to toy with viewers at this point, starting with a genuinely funny bit involving a woman who refuses to take off her clothes and deliberately riles up the crowd (a troll before that was called trolling) and ending with the winner, "Jack the Stripper, from jolly old England," Having a male stripper to bump and grind for the last act definitely wasn't what I was expecting, but somehow, it works.
Even during the climactic strip show, Aire sticks to MC duty, rather than being thrown in to rip her clothes off. The character is kept remarkably pure, without being sanitized. Given a tricky part, Aire more than shines. As this was near the end of her adult film career, it's a decent sendoff for her, and it's a movie that, while not a classic, deserves more recognition than it seems to get.
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