The Players Club

Plot synopsis:
Diana Armstrong (LisaRaye) arrives at the scene of the raunchy, dysfunctional Players Club. She narrates that she used to work at the club and had begun when she moved out of her parents home after an argument with her father, as she was pregnant with her son. Diana ends up working at a shoe store, when she meets Ronnie (Chrystale Wilson) and Tricks (Adele Givens), who work for Dolla Bill (Bernie Mac) at The Players Club. They convince Diana she would make better money stripping, by saying, "Use what you got to get what you want."
Dolla Bill gives Diana a job, giving her the name Diamond. Everything is fine until four years into the game her younger lost-minded cousin Ebony Armstrong (Monica Calhoun) comes to live with her. After listening to Dolla's rendition of "The Strippin' Game", she starts working at the club.
Ebony is soon out of control, excessively drinking, staying out all night and influenced more and more by Ronnie and Tricks, who encourage Ebony to do more out-of-club parties for groups of men. Diana tries to warn Ebony to stay away from "those two" and quit doing house parties, but Ebony declines being told what to do, choosing to ignore Diana's advice. After the heated confrontation, Diana has a flashback of a time when she was at a private party with Ronnie and Tricks, the men at the private party offers to pay Ronnie to perform cunnilingus on Diamond who has passed out on the bed drunk, Ronnie accepts the offer and proceeds to assault Diamond, the flashback encourages Diana to protect Ebony.
Meanwhile, Dolla Bill gets confronted by a man who works for St. Louis, a drug lord to whom Dolla Bill owes $60,000. He warns Dolla Bill if he doesn't make a payment of $10,000 to St. Louis, he will hunt him down. That same night, St. Louis comes to his club to collect. Little Man, who is the doorman of the club, tells St. Louis that Dolla Bill is not at the club and they leave. The next day as Dolla Bill tries to leave the club, he gets confronted by St. Louis' men, Brooklyn (Charlie Murphy) and KC (Terrence Howard). They beat him unconscious and throw him into the back of his car. Luckily for him, they are stopped by Freeman (John Amos) and Peters (Faizon Love), two crooked cops. Dolla Bill is found in the trunk and is arrested on warrants.
The following night when rapper Luther "Luke" Campbell comes to the strip club, two of Louis's watchmen, Reggie (Ice Cube) and Clyde (Alex Thomas) are discussing about him. When Dolla Bill, who was bailed out of jail and returned to his club, is notified that Luke is at his club he alerts the strippers via a money alarm and believes he will gain a fortune profit. Clyde tries to meet Luke but his bodyguard (Michael Clarke Duncan) informs Clyde that Luke is trying to relax and not meet with fans. Clyde insults the bodyguard causing him to hit Clyde in the back of his head as he leaves, leaving him unconscious. In retaliation, Reggie beats down the bodyguard and belligerently fights against Luke and his friends, only for him to be defeated and thrown into a glass window. The dazed Reggie opens fire wildly before being knocked out by the bouncer XL (Tiny Lister).
Further tension develops between Ebony and Diana when Diana returns home one night after fleeing her obsessive customer Myrin, who admitted to stalking her and then tried to force entry to her apartment, to find Ebony in bed with her boyfriend Lance. Diana chases Lance out with her gun, shooting at him several times. Diana threatens and taunts Ebony. When Diana feigns leaving, Ebony is hit when she opens the door and is thrown out the apartment.
Diana then begins dating Blue (Jamie Foxx), a DJ at the Player's Club. Meanwhile, Ebony is offered a gig to dance at Ronnie's brother Junior's (Samuel Monroe Jr.) bachelor party, under the pretense from Ronnie that other girls from the club will be dancing there as well (In actuality, Ronnie lied to use her as a way out of stripping for her brother's friends at the party so Ebony can strip for them instead). When Ebony realizes that she will be the only woman in a hotel room full of horny men, she desperately tries calling Diana to come and pick her up, but to no avail.
Reggie and Clyde, both feeling insulted by Diana and Ebony from a previous encounter, lie to Junior that Ebony will have sex with him, claiming that they "ran a train" on her. Excited, Junior bursts in on Ebony while she is changing. Ebony resists, prompting Junior to brutally beat and rape her, leaving his friends to listen to it in full disgust and disbelief. Soon, Reggie, Clyde and the other guests leave, wanting no further involvement with Junior. When Ronnie discovers Ebony unconscious, she and Junior flee the hotel room as she scolds him. Later, Diana has a change of heart and she and Blue decide to check up on Ebony at the hotel, only to discover her bloodied and unconscious body on the bed.
Furious, Diana grabs her gun and goes to the Players Club, where Ronnie and Tricks are hiding out. After scaring the other strippers away by firing a warning shot, Diana gives the gun to Blue to cover her while she gets into a brutal fistfight with Ronnie, leaving Ronnie badly beaten. She quits in front of Dolla Bill, punches Tricks and leaves along with Blue.
Ronnie and Tricks are arrested by the police on charges of the rape of Ebony, and Junior had been arrested moments before. Later that night, Diana's timing proves to be perfect when St. Louis, comes to collect. He personally shoots up the club (though he does give warning to the customers beforehand, allowing them to leave). As he desperately tries to escape, Dolla is captured by Reggie, Clyde, and St. Louis' associate, whom Dolla Bill met earlier. Later, St. Louis has Brooklyn destroy the club with a LAW rocket.
Ebony, still sporting the bruises from her rape, now has a job working at the shoe store. Having been berated by two strippers who work at a new club, called Club Sugar Daddy's, with the same slogan that influenced her to strip, she firmly stands her ground. In the end, Diamond narrates that Ebony moved back to Tallahassee, FL to be with her mother. Blue is a top DJ at a radio station, and that he and Diamond are moving further in their relationship. Ronnie and Tricks got jobs at Club Sugar Daddy's after their release from jail. Junior is serving time in prison for raping Ebony, and that he never got married. Reggie and Clyde were last seen at the Freaknik in Atlanta. St. Louis is still "running the South" along with his hired guns, Brooklyn and KC. Peters and Freeman are still harassing people all day. Little Man is managing an different strip club in Chicago. Dolla Bill was never heard from again (Notwithstanding, it can be safely assumed that he was murdered by St. Louis' men for his debts as he was last seen being stuffed into the trunk of their car). Diana is now a successful reporter, putting the past behind for good and move onto a perfect normal life with her son and now boyfriend, Blue.

Tags: violence

Review:
"An Ice Cube film"Wow, that's already big enough.
He is a rapper, a musician who writes songs for films, and is good at it, besides being a low profile artist.
With the production company he has, he could have the highest ego, but he continues on doing his job.In 1998, he got his chance to direct his movie; his first and only up to date.
He wouldn't do the stupid gangster films the other rappers do because he takes the job seriously; so seriously he wrote his own neighborhood and people story, which is unexpectedly touching in its most impressive moments.
Whether he got inspiration from there or not, I don't care, but the screenplay is his.In his tale, where he also allows a role for him, we meet Diana (a powerful and gripping performance by Lisa Raye), a young girl and aspiring journalist with a lot of problems that drive her towards working on a strippers club, to get money and become Diamond.
In Dollar Bill's (original Bernie Mac) club, "The players club", she is not the typical stripper, dancing with all the others; she has a special number, and some clients.
Every day she deals with cousin Ebony (Monica Calhoun), who lives with her and has more than two times her problems; her unfaithful boyfriend and the different people in the club, including DJ Blue (a calm portrayal by Jamie Foxx), who likes her.Like in any other story, these are not the only ones in Cube's visionThere are lots of them and each of them has their own thing that relates to another thing.
He has a desperate need to show things as real as possible, even if it is a fiction story, so his camera moves like eyes most of the times, like afraid of watching what's waiting on the other side, so the impact is harder when we seed alongside the camera.
Like directors of the league of Scorsese or Oliver Stone, Ice Cube tries to makes us see what he sees.
I was shocked with the ending of "Do the right thing", but I understood it was just Spike Lee expressing himself.I don't know what exactly the message Lee wanted to give was, I don't know what was going through his mind at the time, just as I didn't know what was Ice Cube thinking, so he could end up showing "The players club" in flames during the first frames of his movie..
Unremarkable but ambitious story from writer-director Ice Cube.
A young woman recalls her emotionally wrenching experiences while working at a raunchy black strip club.
Intriguing story is accompanied by a talented cast, powerful moments, and some fine performances, but too often resorts to familiar plot twists and lame stereotypes.
Not a bad piece of work for first time director Cube, but would have benefited from more creativity.
This is basically a black, very superior version of "Striptease" and "Showgirls."  It's not as sexy as "Showgirls," but what I really looked for was a better plot.
LisaRaye gave an impressive debut performance as a college student trying to make ends meet.
I was very impressed with Ice Cube, his writing-directing debut, because, honestly, I didn't know he was capable.
Another thing, this movie has the best, most vicious catfight I have ever seen..
Fairly good movie with an exciting plot..
Dear Reader, I think the movie Players Club had a good story line.
So many women in search for independence like Diana have used Strip Clubs as a means to an end.
I think Lisa Raye did a good acting job and I hope Hollywood considers her for other roles.
Ice Cube should be applauded for an exciting movie..
Dollar Bill, the character played by Bernie Mac is simply funny.To the extent that there is a theme, it is one of black exploitation by other blacks, the operative color being the green of money, and it was refreshing to see the absence of non-African Americans so that the themes and action were not framed within the usual, tired aria of white economic oppression, and rather the interactions between the characters are the focal point.
Fair B quality movie depicting slice of black American strip club life in southern USA.Story is good social commentary on said lifestyle's evils and dangers but the movie suffers from a rushed directorial style and lackluster performances even by pro actors who have displayed better in the past.This was probabably caused by lack of directorial discipline on Ice Cube's part due to budget constraints.You can realy tell the veteran actors were not paid properly and just cruised along as a favor for Cube.Too bad for the movie's story was a good idea,setting up for great drama,action,comedy,sex,social commentary and entertainment much like the winning formula of SHOWGIRLS.I vote for a proper remake of this one!But as of now,avoid this movie unless you really want a peek into that lifestyle or are a big fan of any of the lead actors.Do not expect much sex scenes though for the focus on this one is social commentary.......
In an ideal guided tour about freakishly bad movies from 1977 onwards, The Players' Club should deserve a stop.
Watch out for the (so fake it hurts) catfight scene between the "good" stripper Lisa Raye and the "bad", lesbian, vicious, bleached blonde, whatshername stripper.
The small part of Ice Cube himself as the stereotype bad guy and the obvious "you can make all the money you want, but don't let money make a slave out of you" message (you're gonna hear it so many times throughout the movie it's gonna ring in your head like a f***ing bell for hours afterwards !) top it all.
Comedy, drama, action, sex appeal and good acting.
Ice Cube, as a writer, has done it again and, for the movie to be his directorial debut, it is an excellent piece of film work..
Poorly written, poorly acted  a real stereotypical movie from start to end.
When working in a shoe shop Diana gets met by two strippers who invite her down to try out for the Players Club where she gets taken on.
Given the name Diamond by her boss, Diana also gets her cousin involved in the club while she also tries to look after her son and stay in school.
Eventually the drama of the club gets intense and catches her up.I like Ice Cube as an actor.
We are `treated' to the odd dance and fight scene but really the bits don't all come together and it just feels like everyone is swearing over nothing all the time.The acting is surprisingly bad from several main sources.
Wilson and Givens are ugly and nasty  they can't act and I find it hard to believe people actually paid Wilson to get naked!This film is basically a modern blackploitation film  made for black people to come and watch regardless of quality.
Overall Cube may have directing skills worth watching again but lets hope his next vehicle is better than this..
But, there were also a lot of things that seemed to me were supposed to be scary.It is a story about an innocent girl who is working as a stripper trying to put herself through school, and all the drama and headaches that comes along with her job.
The way Ice Cube told the story was pretty flawed.
Things were pretty misplaced, which makes it hard to follow at times.Wasn't a bad flick.
Something I would recommend solely for entertainment purposes, and only if you like cheesy "being bullied" type movies.
Ice Cube probably will never be as revered or respected as much as his cohort, the late Tupac Shakur, when it comes to rapping or acting, but he's getting there.
Now the Cube attempts to direct a film, and this is his first project.Every Black American I've known has seen this movie; they have pride in seeing their brothers make films.
Although this one is not great; it's watchable and it's quite good in spots.The story is about a young lady named Diana who comes from a well-off family.
Of course, she doesn't have enough money to go to school and raise her child, so she decides to become an exotic dancer at a black club.
The club is owned by a man who is in big trouble with loan sharks.Later, a cousin comes to visit for the summer, and seeing Diana working there, decides to get a job there, too.
Unfortunately, Ebony is drawn to the seediness of the people, and Diana must monitor her closely, because she's underage (18-19)Of course, all the usual stereotypes are here, the fat stripper who's booed of the stage, the outlandish show-offy dancers, the slow-witted stalkers, just like how it was done in "Striptease", but it's not played for laughs.
There is one funny scene in which the loan sharks stick Jamie Foxx's head in the car and drive around with him still on his feet when he tells them he doesn't know where the club owner (Bernie Mac) is.The acting is either weak or over-the-top.
Just like how The A-Team and the bad guys have balletic shoot-outs, no man is ever shot and killed.
Not a single person is killed in this film, which at least is a positive thing; that every one gets a second chance to amend themselves.
If you're a fan of Ice Cube; this isn't bad, but I'd rent it on the cheap if you've seen everything else..
But movies on the stripping game don't seem to.
Such on the form as "Showgirls" made one wish the makers had followed pornography by example and not tried to have plot.Good readers, take a deeep breath of relief that "The Players Club" has slightly higher-quality of strip than glitzy dives like "Showgirls" and "Striptease." Not quite the British Oscar contender level of "The Full Monty"...
but not quite a "Striptease." Written and directed by old-school rap superstar Ice Cube, "The Players Club" is a posh, yet harsh feature dealing with women needing big money really fast and giving themselves over to this way in order to get it.
Some strippers come in and tell her there are ways of making more money--much, much more.
did The Ice see that movie...
But despite blaxploitation roots and intentions, "The Players Club" boasts an A-list cast and production values, thanks to the powerful status name of The Ice Cube and New Line.
Bernie Mac gives in his plum of the "Players Club" owner "Dollar" Bill.
Oscar-winner Foxx of "Ray" fame got his start in the biz as stand-up and here as Blue, it might've served him (and the freakin' movie) better had he done some of his act.
You'd think the DJ at a strip club wouldn't be important (Bill even tells Blue that to his face at one point), but he proves to be the very thing that Diana needs--even pulling it all together in the final act.Looking at all this, I kept waiting for Pam Grier to pop up in some cameo (where she at least keep her clothes on).
"Players Club" does make a lot of its characters colorful and eccentric while keeping a lot of them fairly human.
Cube tries to juggle, not making it a specific genre--but a "life film." His movie is comedy, drama, a thriller, and action flick...
As a filmmaker, Ice dons the indie hat here--as screenwriter, executive producer, director and bit-player.
Though at times, Cube's stuff feels tired, underdeveloped.
Could Cube's old director from "Boyz 'N' The Hood" Singelton have come down to give former "Doughboy" some sage advice?
Despite it's blaxploitation roots, "Club" mostly tries to sidestep a lot of opportunities to make the whole thing really, really campy, going for the "so bad, it's good" laughs that helped the earlier "white-stripper" movies get some viewers.
Cube ain't Spike Lee.He doesn't make all the women into the kind of creatures they seem to be in their act.
There are times when Cube doesn't capture energy he needs to.
Guns, chicks, chicks with guns, hoes, players, white cops getting spanked by black chicks who carry guns, deals, dopes, drive-bys, cripples and just about everything you want in a movie.
Pure visceral fun.
Ice Cube Tries To Sell Some Records.
The TV guide described THE PLAYERS CLUB as " Gritty drama about an aspiring journalist who takes a job in a strip club to make ends meet " which had me thinking I'd be watching something like STRIPTEASE without any of the campness but I found myself being more and more puzzled at what sort of film Ice Cube was trying to make here .
It might be gritty but only because characters say things like " Ah'm thru wid chew you motherf--kin' ho " while the drama elements never come to the fore .
The aspiring journalist Diane Armstrong gets a job at the strip club but the story centres around other character subplots for a couple of minutes that don't really lead anywhere and one can't help thinking the character of Diane is used to set up the story just so writer/director Ice Cube can use the location to play a soundtrack that is composed of mainly Ice Cube tracks .
Ice Cube Debuts.
I enjoyed this movie and was not surprised that I did because Ice Cube has always been the type of artist to put 110% effort into anything that he does.
Black Cinema:R.I.P. Another movie about black people that degrades them and lowers their moral standards completely.This film is made by a gangster(ICE CUBE)for gangsters.The idea of a black woman having to prove her worth by showing off her wares as a stripper is just too much.This movie says all black people are good for are sex,drugs,and crime,how else does anyone who looks at the characters who have the moral standards of a pimp,who speak in the heaviest ebonics tones,to be like?Black people with no good guidelines to life just a bunch of sleezy ebonic speaking hustlers.Nearly all films about black Americans these days have degrade so badly it is safe to say that black cinema is dead.For without any changes from the black sellouts and their white masters who finance their films,black exploitation is very much alive and well..
I felt that the plot for Player's Club just barely held water.
Even Al Bundy doesn't want a beat down ex-stripper pushing his wares.However as an Ice Cube fan and a fan of local "players clubs", the movie wasn't a total waste.
It was the supporting characters that deserve credit for carrying this movie.
Very good directorial debut by a rapper.
Most films directed by rappers are usually very bad.
The Players Club is a very good one.
Ice Cube found good actors that can work with his medicore script.
I'm a great fan of Cube as a hip-hop artist; he should stick to that and not attempt to make movies.
There was always some drama goin on and that is what I loved about this movie, that they kept comin up w/ somethin to keep the viewer interested, there never was a boring part.
I really liked the main character Diamond, I loved the part where she beats the s*** outta Ronnie, and slaps Ebony in the face, they got what they deserved.
All in all a very good film, rent it.
This movie i have seen five times and i currently just watched it.
I cant help but watch this movie whenever it on.
I love how it shows a good stripper against all odds working through her struggles to survive through all the obstacles.
The movie also show true life of black woman and how violent they are but also shows how there are good sides to them that they actually do care but how it comes out late.
The ending to this movie is perfect also make money don't let it make you.
Very good first effort for Cube..
I honestly didn't know what to expect from "another stripper movie."  But all in all I was quite impressed.
Ice Cube has always been one of my favorite rappers, and once he got into acting he was one of my favorite actors.
Players Club definitely shows that Cube also has the potential to write and direct more great films.
Though I wouldn't call this a comedy/drama, there are definitely some very funny scenes, especially those involving Jamie Foxx.
PROPS TO ICE CUBE FOR A GOOD DIRECTORIAL JOB..
I really like Jamie Foxx in another great role.
Although, I went into this film expecting to see a titty movie, which it aint, and I'm glad about that, because I wanted to see more than tits when watching a movie with the talents of Ice Cube, Bernie Mac, and Jamie Foxx.
THIS MOVIE: The Players ClubIs Good For The Ones That Don't Mind A Lot Of Cursing And Perversion Talking And Nudity And Some Drug Use.**** SOME SPOILERS ABOUT THE MOVIE ****
This Movie Is About:This Girl That's Pregnant In High School Leaves Home Away From Her Always Unsatisfied Father.She Takes A Job At A Shoe Store.
Introduces Her To The Players Club.She Notice What It's Like.
Low Life Brothers That Want To See And Get A Piece Of Ass.Her Baby Father Leaves Her.She Meets Another Man.Her 18 Year Old Cousin Moves In With Her.Her Boyfriend and Her Cousin Caught By Her Having Sex.She Kicks Her Cousin Out.Ronnie And Tricks Makes Her Do A Bachelor Party By Herself.The Cousin Calls Diamond For Help.She Refuses.The Cousin Gets Raped.She Takes The Blame.
Go Back To The Players Club.Beat Up Ronnie and Tricks.
Ice Cubes writes, directs, produces, acts, makes the sandwiches and thoroughly spoils everything in this movie.
Jamie Foxx plays a character who continually denigrates the dancers in the movie until he shows tenderness to one of them at the end for no reason but " that's Hollywood, forget logic".
I don't think that this movie featured heavily on his CV .