In the old days, movies about strippers were harrowing tales involving serial killers and they were little more than blood & guts slasher movies which totally defeated their reason d'entre. Fortunately we have evolved past Roger Corman. It is noticed that there remains a murder plot in DANCING AT THE BLUE IGUANA with the Russian hit man, but it is at least not directed at the girls. I am one of the few people in the world who isn't negative about SHOWGIRLS, perhaps in part because it was such an improvement on the usual inane fare when it came to dealing with the subject matter, but in this one, there is a minimum of violence. So this is refreshing in that way. More real. It is filled with flaws, but the positives far, far outweigh the negatives.I thought I was still watching, then realized as those two guys walked off this is gonna be the end of the movie. Shucks, no, man! You can't do this to us! It's like a first-part with no second-part! There's no resolution to the story!Had I been a director, I'd never have gone for improv, I'd have insisted on a script. I'd have allowed improv if they came up with gems. In loads of places in this movie, like the bit about the rats, about Angel 'not being that big in real life' and not have inhaled, Jo's "of course I'm not keeping it, it's disgusting!", Jo's abortion clinic scene, and several others, were gems, but then again, loads of other stretches needed to be weeded out. But please note that I'm not knocking this movie. I am simply saying that the finished product needed some sprucing up. Okay, lots of sprucing up. And damn it, more resolution in the ending.I am of course just raring to have a say about the actresses:First off, Daryl Hannah. I've noticed criticism by some of the first-page reviewers thrown her way. Stuff like one of them wished she had a script. Hell. With her long legs, and her cat-like abilities, and her soft-spoken ways, Daryl is an absolute treat as Angel. She was made for the part. Can anyone be so agile sixteen years after having first wowed audiences? Daryl Hannah in high heels, bare-legged and mostly undressed, all tearful, in the parking area scenes are just heartbreakingly beautiful! Hey, reviewers, please note that Daryl played the part of this charmingly naive Angel and gave a charmingly naive portrayal. She was so utterly vulnerable in the scene with the policeman. There are people who aren't really equipped to deal with the realities of the mean old world out there, and Daryl played it to perfection.Second, Charlotte Ayanna. The newcomer. Does a wonderfully charming (and intoxicatingly alluring) Jessie. Pretty little body. Brings out all the protective urges. Dreamgirl. How anybody could slap her around...! But of course there are people like that in the world. Charlotte, good work. You should just have been in loads of great movies besides this one. Instead of that full- of-himself Ricky Martin music video.Third, Sheila Kelly as Stormy. She has a presence! Wow, does she ever have a presence! Grabs your attention the moment the camera comes her way. Stormy deserves a movie of her own. I'd have bought the DVD.And then there is Jennifer Tilly. Hard to believe this is the same girl as the sad character in THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS, equally hard to believe that she was that young woman in BOUND. This is a versatile actress, people!I did not find Sandra Oh to be as great as the scores of other reviewers who think the world of her. I do not nearly think that she 'is a truckload of Kleenex all by herself'. The character, yes, the situation, yes, but for the most part, her portrayal fell flat. I would have said that Daryl's Angel was the true truckload of Kleenex.By the way, IMDb, really, 'an unglamorous look at strippers'? Not how I'd have put it. Makes it sound all wrong. Plenty of glamor in this movie, with the girls themselves. It is their doomed lifestyles that present the negative side, but the movie itself is filled with eye candy. Since you won't lure people into the cinema or towards buying the DVD by saying 'an unglamorous look at strippers' let me just point out that there is an a-b-u-n-d-a-n-c-e of fine flesh + lovely, lovely girls + celebrity skin (and a whole lot of sad stuff that makes it really deep!) But there's a lot of Showgirls in this one too! Yay to that!Review brought to you by RavenGlamDVDCollector who thinks its cool that the picture is sensitive enough to be mistaken for a chick flick. But let's do celebrate the beauty of the female of the species. That's why I bought DANCING AT THE BLUE IGUANA. After downloading the trailer on VuClip, because the plot on Wikipedia sounded fraught with totally depressing stuff.I've kept quiet about one thing. Most of the breasts in the movie are surgically enhanced. Not so Daryl Hannah's. Hell, to that Board Post entry about 'wearing out a VHS tape watching Kristin Bauer's scene'... How foolish to salivate over that! How totally off-putting! But, if I could've woken up alongside an Angel lookalike tomorrow morning... Sigh.

I was shocked at how strongly the critics raped this movie. I spent many years inside this world and I was surprised by the realism. It is a sad world. There is nothing glamorous about it. Except that it is indeed a writer's paradise. I am surprised by the general lack of work that comes out of this environment. It is the front lines. All of these women are pulled out of the Matrix at an early age. It's intention is not to be a great film. It's intention is to capture the strip club world. And to reveal some raw souls that are rarely seen, much less understood. These girls are often stereotyped as empty, but they just started out with bad directions. These people are real. I know them. I recommend it highly.

The main selling point of this movie is sex. There aren't any hardcore sex scenes but there's enough nudity (hardly anything below the waist, though) to boost your interest every 10 minutes as the show loses its momentum from one strip scene to another. The girls come off as quite sweet but their lives are a mess. The story is quite difficult to follow with many loose ends but you realize after a while that it doesn't really matter what exactly is going on as this movie tries to depict things as close to reality as possible. There is no real plot to any of it. Charlotte Ayanna, to me, is the prettiest stripper with the most perfect tits while the others seem to have different 'assets' they capitalize on. Overall, if you like girls, you'd be willing to make an exception for this one. Otherwise, your time is better spent watching an exciting B-grade monster movie.

I was very happy to see the ending credits. There was nothing absolutely unforgettable in this flick.The locations: a gloomy nightclub in LA, where the dancers don't even give a show. But, as the director would say, the choice was not made to shoot their art (à la "Showgirls") but to tell their life.Next, the story: Inexistent. We saw the private and desperate life of those women but there is no dynamic, no drama. It is like a collection of small vignettes. The more interesting are the Hannah's one, because she plays a naive dumb character. The acting: the choice for uncharismatic actresses but good improvisers is really interesting for the director, not for the audience.In conclusion, the real "Dancing at the blue iguana" isn't directed by Radford but by Hannah. Her documentary is a fine work and succeeds where the movie always fails. The direction has a good tempo, the real strippers are touching. Thanks to the DVD!!!!