Heartland: Stripper Boyz
Two out-of-work actors decamp to Las Vegas to see if they can make it as male strippers in this documentary that's more about getting attention then self-exploration.
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Two 30-something out-of-work actors decamp from Hollywood to Las Vegas to see if they can make it as male strippers. That’s the premise of “Stripper Boyz,” a documentary — or maybe mockumentary? — that’s more about generating attention than self-exploration.
The era of the gimmick documentary film arrived some time ago. You could argue it announced itself with “Roger & Me,” in which Michael Moore pretended to chase the CEO of General Motors around the country in search of an interview, but surely arrived with full force in “Supersize Me,” Morgan Spurlock’s odyssey into an all-McDonald’s diet to see what effect it had on his health.
Both were entertaining exercises in the obvious, with a preordained outcome. If Moore had gotten the interview — he actually confronted the CEO at a shareholders meeting prior to working on the movie — or Spurlock had emerged from gorging on daily stacks of burgers and fries looking svelte, neither of their movies would have existed, and both men wouldn’t have enjoyed the long and lucrative careers they did.
I don’t necessarily mind a gimmick idea for a documentary, or any kind of movie for that matter, as long as they do something interesting with it.
“Boyz,” directed by and featuring Stephen Sanow, takes what I think is a not terribly interesting premise and then rides it as far as it will go. He predicates the project on the idea that it’s really about helping his best friend, Jozef Fahey, improve his self-esteem in advance of his impending marriage.
This journey is essentially their version of a bachelor’s party, except they’re the ones dropping trou.
Stripping has been the subject of a lot of movies, whether it’s the main show or just a lusty background for some other exposition-y things to go on. It went from being a seedy profession just this side of prostitution to a fairly mainstream gig, particularly for male performers who generally ply their trade in front of large groups of women taking in the show as a lark.
I recall going to my first strip bar shortly after turning 21. It was a pretty eye-opening affair, to say the least, especially for someone seeing an actual woman naked for the first time. We replicated the experience a few times as other friends came of age, but it quickly lost its appeal as we realized the only thing the strippers cared about was Hoovering all the cash in our pockets as fast as possible. And we began to experience more significant relationships with our partners. I haven’t been in more than 30 years, and honestly have no interest.
(Not to mention, that whole Internet thing where can see pretty much anything you want for free.)
Steven and Joe are pretty normal, likable guys, comedian/actors desperate to kick-start their careers. Steven shows himself working at his day job overseeing the salad bar at a grocery store, so getting paid to take your clothes off seems a pretty nice step-up. Joe is the shyer, more introverted one, and has to be talked into the thing.
Though entirely decent-looking fellows, they are not what you first think of as male strippers, with flubbery bodies sporting plenty of spread around the middle. Steven has an impressive carpet of male fur that covers chest, shoulders, back… possibly further.
Personally I think the entirely denuded look favored for men’s bodies these days is kinda creepy, but maybe there’s a happy medium between that and Sasquatch.
The first question that springs to mind is why they have to drive to Vegas to pursue stripping; presumably there are plenty of opportunities in the greater Los Angeles area. Perhaps it’s just the socially approved sordidness of Sin City, which is closer to Disneyland now than Bugsy Siegel.
They connect with some guys from the Aussie Boys, a Vegas mainstay stripping show. Joe and Steven are impressed by the showmanship, which includes highly choreographed dance movies, stunts, music and stage pyrotechnics. They’re intimidated, but Arron Lucey, who seems to oversee the performers, offers to train them up.
Unfortunately, he is seriously injured in a show before they even get started, so Steven and Joe spend a lot of time hanging out at Steven’s aunt’s borrowed bungalow. This opens up some time for the guys to reflect, but it seems to be less about polishing their self-image than how they can make a movie to bolster their acting careers.
They do make some sojourns on their own, buying some ridiculous stripper outfits that resemble the get-ups from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” and pretend to be surprised and disappointed when they offer to busk street photos for free to the passerby tourists and get rejected.
“Instead of feeling better about ourselves, we feel like ugly losers who should never take their clothes off,” Steven narrates.
Eventually they bump into Nick, the exotically strange producer of Aussie Boys, who looks like his “Miami Vice” heyday never left, wearing the same clothes and pulling the same shtick while bellying up (a lot) to the buffet. He acts like he’s an important guy but seems very lonely, inviting Joe and Steven to his place in the middle of the night to give them advice, maybe an orgy, or possibly both of their murders, but mostly to talk about himself.
Later, we’ll bump into Nick again, and he’s the exact same guy, still kinda strange, but much more helpful and hopeful. It winds up being the most important connection the boys make on the trip. God bless the weirdos.
We learn a little bit about the insides of the stripper business, like the fact a lot of the guys wear “penis extenders,” which is basically an outsized glove they slide their dick into. There’s some stuff about body image, and how six-pack abs are an absolute requirement to be a stripper, including one hilarious occasion where the boys are body-shamed by a woman who makes Nick look underfed.
But really, “Stripper Boyz” isn’t meant to be an insightful peek into the world of male strippers. Maybe the “Magic Mike” movies do that better; I wouldn’t know because I haven’t watched them, despite many people saying at least the first one is good. I never saw “Showgirls,” either, come to think of it. I guess for a movie critic I’m not a very accomplished voyeur.
I don’t mind Steven and Joe making a documentary whose entire real purpose is just to say, “Hey! We made a goofy documentary! Look at us! Laugh at us! Most of all, please hire us!” They say in Hollywood the only reason you make your first movie is so enough people notice so you can make a second movie.
I’d say their self-promotion gimmick was successful enough that they deserve another chance. Maybe something a bit more ambitious and revealing — on the inside, that is — next time?