Highly Overrated But Still Good

Good concept, poorly executed.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Joseph R. "Joe" Redner is the owner of the world-famous Mons Venus, a nude strip club in Tampa, Florida, and is known as the father of the lap dance. He has come a long way, from being a school dropout to becoming quite wealthy. His story is an inspiration.Redner has been involved in legal disputes with the Tampa City Council, which has tried to place restrictions on the strip club industry for nearly thirty years. Mons Venus and Redner have filed suits that have reached the Supreme Court and have become case law in many court cases.On March 6, 2007, Redner earned the number two spot in a six-person race for Tampa City Council, and faced the incumbent chairperson, Gwen Miller, in a runoff March 27, 2007. Joe Redner lost the election, but still achieved a respectable 44% of the vote.These stories and more form the basis for Shelby McIntyre's documentary, "Strip Club King", where we learn what sets Redner apart from the crowd. For one thing, his club is not only successful, but operates in a unique manner: drug-free, prostitution-free and with a female manager.This is also a story of American citizens' basic rights. Redner cites the Supreme Court in saying that nudity is First Amendment-protected speech. But the city didn't like that, and raided his establishment (at this point, The Night Gallery) within three weeks. Sometimes they would be raided a few times a night, with girls arrested earlier in the night back by the end. Soon he knew the vice squad faces.The film has a good mix in of news footage with Redner interviews, and other new visuals, which balances the film nicely -- including a young Anderson Cooper and Jon Stewart. The film, through Redner, also makes an argument that the key factor in gender inequality is the amount of fundamentalists in a given area, not the existence of adult entertainment.Everything about this film is done perfectly. I did not know who Redner was before watching it, I have little experience with strip clubs, but this film really presented everything I would want to know in a fun, educational and fairly non-sensationalist manner. The movie is not about nudity, and features fairly little considering the subject matter. If that's what you crave... there is a special feature with some dancing girls. But that was honestly the least interesting part.

You would think the story of Joe Redner should be interesting, but instead it can't even hold your interest. There is a great story here about Freedom of Speech, the local Gov't, stripping, & much more! It wasn't that it was terrible, it was just done poorly & made uninteresting. For example you would think that things such as making sure when you are interviewing someone, you would make sure that there AREN'T Planes flying up above! Talk about ruining not only the impact of what's being said, but basic sound audio quality. It's not a big thing, but it's film-making 101! Some of the interviews are painfully boring & the interviewer didn't seem to really have any prepared questions ready. I don't know if that's true or not, but c'mon now. I wouldn't really recommend this unless you are a huge fan of Joe Redner or perhaps live in the Tampa area, otherwise you'll be pretty bored.