Just Can't Get Enough

I listened to the commentary and was surprised to learn that most of this story is taken from court records and FBI transcripts. Dialogue and all. This is a fairly entertaining drama about the owner and creator of Chippendales empire and the lengths he went to protect himself from what he felt were threats to his empire. If anything, you'll be amused by the stupidity of some of these based on real life character's actions. If you like your men cheesy and buff, your humor dark, and your music 80s, you'll like this film.

Not to be confused with the USA channel's "The Chippendale Murders" which obviously had more money to spend on production value. Given the fact that I worked ( believe me I'm not bragging) at Chippendales briefly back in 1983 -1984, I must say that although the story was close, it really missed the mark. It failed to capture the true meaning of what "IT" was all about. IT being CHIPPENDALES. The last true Soddom and Gomorrah.

The depiction of Somen "Steve" Banerjee (The Owner) and the way his character was written, failed to capture the inner demon lurking behind the soft and unassuming facade that he perpetrated so well. Although the acting was fair, the direction and writing did an injustice to the essence of what IT was ALL about. Maybe I should write the TRUE STORY.

Given the subject matter, you expect this independent film by director/writer David Payne to be full of naked bodies gyrating to the beat of club music--certainly not a serious movie with plenty of bite. But JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH scores in both directions, and in spite of the abundance of skin on display it is the story rather than the bodies that linger in mind after the movie ends.

As seen through the eyes of club worker Chad (Johnathan Abue, playing a role loosely based on real-life Dan Peterson), JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH is surprisingly dark and surprisingly factual. Steve Banerjee (Shelley Malil) is just another club owner until he stumbles into the idea of male strippers playing to a women-only audience, and the ringing cash register attracts ambitious and obnoxious choreographer Nick Denoia (Peter Nevargic). Once Denoia gets wise to Banerjee's shady dealings he quickly blackmails the club owner into signing away the touring rights to the show. But when it comes to underhanded manipulations, Banerjee proves Denoia's equal and then some: the sex, drugs, and rock and roll atmosphere of the club quickly gives way to a headlong rush into murder, and the ride is straight down all the way.

Payne's script isn't as tight as it might be, and it sometimes goes off on tangents that add little to the overall impact of the film, but the actors are first rate all the way and increasingly convoluted nature of the conspiracies and counter-conspiracies make for a fascinating ride. And to up the ante, Payne endows the entire film with an unexpectedly dark humor and sense of irony that rings true even in the movie's weaker moments.

Yes, there are plenty of naked bodies (both male and female) on display, but ultimately JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH is less about sex than it is about an extremely unsavory and seldom acknowledged side of the American dream, a drive for success that flattens every moral obstacle it meets. In one particularly memorable scene, Banerjee snarls that Joe Kennedy built his fortune on illegal bootleg liquor and even sitting President Reagan lied to congress to finance a secret war; bending the law is the American way. But not every one can get away with it--and even for those who do there is a price. In this instance the price ranges from emotional deadness to drug addiction to accidental incest to blood. And every one has to pay.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

What this movie has done is brought an already remarkable story to the next level. The use of relatively unknown actors to tell an relatively unknown story really works. The tone, locations, and camera work fit right in to the "darkness" of the story. Everyone associated with this move should be commended. Dave Payne has a style all his own(Addams Family Reunion, Alien Avengers 2 etc.)and it's a style of which I just can't get enough.

This one purports to examine the facts surrounding the sex and criminal scandals during the course of the successful rise of the Chippendale's male strip club and touring shows. If it gets the facts right, it certainly doesn't offer much more than that. It's way too conventional for a low-budget independent film and should have been more unbridled in it's depiction of the sleaze and corruption at the center of the operation (or "Sodom and Gomorrah" as one reviewer aptly puts it). Everything that was seductively addictive about the lifestyle depicted is presented with the clinical precision of a Lifetime movie of the week, complete with soap-operatic personal issues and misfiring attempts at humor. Sadly, it's not the lurid melodrama it wants to be or a startling new presentation of nostalgic debauchery. An antiseptic scandal sheet.