The Players Club

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The Players Club ★★★ 1998 (R)

Rapper-turned-auteur Ice Cube directs this look at the seamy and steamy world of strip clubs from his own screenplay. Diana (LisaRaye) is a single mom and college student by day, and a dancer at a strip club owned by the bombastic Dollar Bill (Mac) by night. When her naive cousin Ebony (Calhoun) is lured into turning tricks by fellow stripper Ronnie (Wilson), trouble starts. Blue (Foxx) is the deejay who falls for Diana, and is persuaded to act honorably by Diana's disapproving (and target shooting) father (Williams). Ice Cube appears as a customer who inadvertently lights the fuse for the movie's climax. While not in Woody Allen territory yet, Mr. Cube brings both humor and reality to the seedy world of strip joints. 103m/C VHS, DVD . LisaRaye, Bernie Mac, Monica Calhoun, A.J. (Anthony) Johnson, Jamie Foxx, Ice Cube, Dick Anthony Williams, Tommy (Tiny) Lister, John Amos, Faizon Love, Alex Thomas, Chrystale Wilson, Adele Givens, Larry McCoy; D: Ice Cube; W: Ice Cube; C: Malik Hassan Sayeed; M: Hidden Faces.