Stripped Naked (2009)

Better Late Then Never

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Because of an argument, "Cassie" (Sarah Allen) is forced to get out of the car that her boyfriend "Jack" (John Cor) is driving and is left alone on the side of the road. After walking a little bit she comes across a man in a pickup truck and asks to use his cellphone. He tells her to quickly get into the truck and hide just as another car with 2 other men comes driving up. When the drug deal he was having goes bad she is left with 3 dead bodies on the side of the road, the pickup truck, $90,000 in cash and a bag of crystal meth worth about another $90,000. Recognizing that this is her big chance she drives off. Unfortunately, there are other people who are also interested in the money who don't necessarily believe she should have it all to herself. Anyway, rather than spoil the movie for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a surprisingly good film. It had drama, humor and a pretty good supporting cast who all performed in a decent manner all around. I especially liked the performance of Linden Ashby who played the part of the bar owner named "Howie Preston". It also has a slightly surprising twist at the end which I thought was also good. In short, this film might not suit everybody's taste but if you like a good drug caper gone wrong then you might enjoy this film.

Those familiar with my reviews may recall how I have proved previously that, in general, Canadian movies (with the exception of a few Atom Egoyan\Sarah Polley efforts) are one big cancer upon the world film industry. STRIPPED NAKED is no exception to this rule. Dolled up with intentionally folded and color-bleached publicity materials to bamboozle anyone looking for a 1970s-style sexploitation flick, STRIPPED NAKED's no-name cast of community theater reject actors slogs through a nonsensical plot featuring no fewer than FIVE sociopathic killers (only two of which supposedly were produced in similar circumstances). One of these killers interrupts her own on-going philosophical slaughter of sexual perverts to gun down the movie's main character in a personal revenge killing, after starting her homicidal career with a third type of murder: patricide. (If you add up the shown and described killings, the final tally is K-5, C-3, R-3, B-2, and H-1 = 14 total). To add insult to injury, the three featured so-called strippers (played by Sarah Allen, Tommie-Amber Pirie, and Jennilee Murray) NEVER actually strip. Apparently this trio and director Lee Demarbre have never heard of what STRIPTEASE did for Demi Moore's career, how BOOGIE NIGHTS put Heather Graham on the map, or how no one in Hollywood can forget Elizabeth Berkey in SHOWGIRLS. More likely, Canadian women take after Queen Elizabeth I, who historians reveal NEVER took off her underclothes in her adult life, and died with an inch of make-up caked on her face from decades of non-washing!

STRIPPED NAKED is a lot of fun, with a sexy anti-heroine protagonist, who has a tiny black heart and great big Technicolor dreams of what she would do with $90,000 and $90,000 worth of methamphetamines.Because the movie is so brightly lit and doesn't utilize the conventional shadowy visual language commonly associated with Noir Cinema, it's genuine noir aspects will probably be overlooked. But NOIR it is, reflective of a light-hearted James M. Cain story; fast moving and following grifters on the make.Kassie finds herself holding a bag of money and a bag of drugs, and sees her dreams of moving to France becoming a possibility. She returns home to take care of some loose ends, and of course her plans begin to get complicated. Her recently ex-ed boyfriend, her admiring roommate/lover, and her sleazy boss all unwittingly throw monkey wrenches into plans they don't even know she has, while (of course) a hit-man arrives looking for his boss's money and drugs. Meanwhile, someone in town is randomly killing some of the town's shadier denizens.Sarah Allen is startlingly sexy and alluring. Her blue eyes and elfin face are transfixing to look at. It's an unusual choice on the part of the filmmakers to make her as unlikeable and cold hearted as they do. (Think Linda Fiorentino in The Last Seduction), but it also makes the ending less predictable. A woman this naughty is less likely to earn a happy ending, after all.The Russ Meyer-esquire cover art and the strip club setting promise more lurid thrills than are actually on hand. The movie is fairly free of blood, sex, nudity, or violence, which when it happens, is not very graphic, but it is still a fun story.This is the kind of movie that I'm not sure why it was made, but I'm glad it was. A nice, fun afternoon movie to watch over lunch. Good show.

Okay, not so good reviews yet...Eccept for the terrible, terrible music and sounds, this move totally outclasses the Hollywood movie productions. There is no special effects or over anticipated celebrities contaminating the movie. This makes it a rarity these days. You get into the story right away and the plot goes on, combining some action and drama in a regular small town setting.Drawbacks, the music... like a porno o something...Worth watching, but get a copy with subtitles and turn the volume down...