Striptease is a 1996 American black comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by Andrew Bergman,[4] and starring Demi Moore, Armand Assante, Ving Rhames, Robert Patrick and Burt Reynolds.

Based on Carl Hiaasen's 1993 best-selling novel of the same name, the film centers on an FBI secretary-turned-stripper who becomes involved in both a child-custody dispute and corrupt politics.

She attempts to probe his whereabouts from his older sister Rita, as he often relocates without informing Erin and uses Angela to steal wheelchairs from hospitals before selling them on the black market.

Aware of his embarrassing indulgences, patron Jerry Killian approaches Erin with a plan to manipulate Dilbeck and settle the custody dispute in her favor.

Finding photos of Erin all over Jerry's apartment, Garcia ventures to the Eager Beaver, where Erin explains her current dilemma and asks him to ensure that the Dade County police department drops Darrell as an informant for the vice squad, so that during her appeal he can be exposed as a criminal; fully sympathetic to her plight, he complies.

Fingerhut, the judge overseeing Erin's case in civil court, suffers a fatal heart attack and is pronounced dead on arrival at Don Shula Hospital, causing her appeal to be delayed by six months.

After Erin takes Angela to work, Darrell ambushes her in her car outside the club at knifepoint, but his arm is broken by Shad, who appears and rescues her.

After Erin finishes her shift, Garcia arrives, shows her the photo being used for blackmail and tells her to contact him if she is threatened, now fully aware why Jerry was murdered.

Darrell then interrupts the dance, allowing Erin to retreieve a gun and force him and Dilbeck to the nearby Belle Glade sugar refinery, where she has arranged for TV crews to arrive for a news conference.

En route, she forces Darrell to write a note releasing custody of Angela to her and once there, she tricks Dilbeck into confessing to the murders on tape.

According to one critic, the novel's plot is "quite faithfully followed" by the screenplay, but in bringing the complicated story to the screen, "Bergman forgets to explain persuasively what a nice girl like Erin – smart, spunky and a former FBI employee – is doing in a dump called the Eager Beaver.

"[10] To prepare for her role as Erin Grant, Moore visited strip clubs in New York City, California and Florida, and she met and observed strippers at work.

After waiting for a while, when Moore finally appeared and started dancing the crowd turned so loud and wild that the shooting had to temporarily cease.

"[11] The filmmakers, in trying actors out for the part of Shad, sought someone "at least 6'2" and physically massive...any ethnicity",[12] eventually casting Ving Rhames.

Burt Reynolds based his performance as Congressman Dilbeck on politicians he knew from his youth, as his father was a police chief and prominent local Republican.

[13] When the filmmakers' first choice, Gene Hackman, turned the role down, Reynolds contacted Castle Rock head Rob Reiner and traveled to Miami to audition, despite not being whom they originally envisioned for the part.

[10] During test screenings, audiences objected to a scene at the end where Dilbeck becomes violent and attempts to rape Grant, holding a knife to her throat.

[15] The scene was reshot five months later to make it funnier, causing a one-month delay in the release,[15][18] but test screenings also turned up less than favorable reactions.

It opened in Australia, France and Germany in August, and Argentina, Italy, Bolivia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Japan in September.

[19] The Motion Picture Association of America raised concerns regarding a poster that it felt revealed too much of Moore's naked body.

"[18] The previous year's film about nude dancers, Showgirls, was generally disliked, so filmmakers feared audiences would pre-judge Striptease on this basis.

The critical consensus reads, "Striptease can't decide whether it is a lurid thriller or a sexy satire - which becomes a moot point as it proves disastrously incapable of pulling either off.

[22] Leonard Maltin was harsher, writing in his book that the film was too depressing, and "Not funny enough, or dramatic enough, or sexy enough, or bad enough, to qualify as entertainment in any category.

[24] David Ansen of Newsweek, sharing Ebert's view on Moore's character, also claimed Striptease failed as a drama because it had no mystery, revealing the identity of its villains early.

Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "B−" on scale of A+ to F.[27] Striptease made $12,322,069 in its first weekend, behind The Nutty Professor with Eddie Murphy, Eraser starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, in which Moore voiced the main character Esmeralda.

[38][better source needed] In 2003, Radioactive Films used a scene from Striptease featuring Moore nude in a video called Hollywood's Hottest.