IMDb > Dancing at the Blue Iguana (2000)
Dancing at the Blue Iguana
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Dancing at the Blue Iguana (2000) More at IMDbPro »

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Dancing at the Blue Iguana (2000) -- Sinematurk - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
5.8/10   2,030 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 1% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Michael Radford
Writers:
Michael Radford (screenplay) and
David Linter (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for Dancing at the Blue Iguana on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
11 October 2001 (Israel) more
Genre:
Drama | Mystery more
Tagline:
five souls exposed more
Plot:
A non-glamorous portrayal of the lives of people who make their living at a strip club. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
2 wins & 1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
(6 articles)
Dancing at the Film Experience
 (From FilmExperience. 19 November 2009, 6:01 AM, PST)
Daryl Hannah's Stripper Pole Workout
 (From WENN. 18 February 2002)
User Comments:
Extremely sexy and sad film more (56 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Charlotte Ayanna ... Jessie

Kristin Bauer ... Nico

W. Earl Brown ... Bobby

Daryl Hannah ... Angel

Chris Hogan ... Dennis

Sheila Kelley ... Stormy

Elias Koteas ... Sully
Vladimir Mashkov ... Sacha

Sandra Oh ... Jasmine

Rodney Rowland ... Charlie

Jennifer Tilly ... Jo

Robert Wisdom ... Eddie
David Amos ... Dave
Carolyne Aycaguer ... Sophie
R.C. Bates ... Jimmy (as RC Bates)
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Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated R for pervasive sexual content/nudity, language, some drug content and brief violence.
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents
Runtime:
123 min | Argentina:126 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English | Russian
Color:
Color
Sound Mix:
Dolby Digital
Certification:
Iceland:16 | Germany:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Canada:18A | USA:TV-MA (cable rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA (cable rating) | Australia:R (original rating) | France:U | Singapore:R21 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R | Finland:K-15 | Canada:A (Ontario)
Filming Locations:
North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA more
Company:
Moonstone Entertainment more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
'Sheila Kelley' originally conceived the idea for this film. It was supposed to be a story about incest between her character and the character played by Elias Koteas. Once the other actresses started improvising, it became more of an ensemble piece. more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: Jo frequently takes long swigs from her whiskey container, yet never swallows any drink and speaks immediately after taking the container away from her mouth. more
Quotes:
Angel: [Whistling and waving] Officer? Officer, could... could you help me with... I... Could you help take a picture of my... I want to take a picture of myself in front of this billboard.
Officer Pete Foster: Is that you?
Angel: Yeah.
Officer Pete Foster: Really.
Angel: I'm a lot smaller in person.
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in Strip Notes (2001) (V) more
Soundtrack:
The N.S. more

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
44 out of 47 people found the following comment useful.
Extremely sexy and sad film, 23 February 2002
10/10
Author: Sean Choi from CA, USA

Upon first impression, Dancing at the Blue Iguana might appear to be just another "T and A movie," like Showgirls. After all, isn't Dancing at the Blue Iguana about strippers and "pole dancers," and doesn't it contain copious amounts of female nudity, just like Showgirls? Yes, on both of these counts. However, merely to conclude from this that Dancing at the Blue Iguana is just another "skin flick" is mistaken, and misses the fact that there is something much deeper going on here. This is more a film about the troubles and unrealized hopes of its characters (who happen to work in a strip club), rather than about their bodies. In short, there is a sadness, poignancy, and desperation, which exists at the heart of Dancing at the Blue Iguana, which gives it a dramatic power not found (nor attempted) in a superficially similar film like Showgirls (which, arguably, just is a "T and A movie").

This film was directed by Michael Radford, who is most famous for his work on Il Postino. The script and the characters in the film grew out of an improvisational workshop which Radford conducted with his lead actors. They each had to research their characters and come up with a storyline for them. Although the acting done in the film is improvised, it sounds polished and believable, and gives the film a raw, edgy feel. The actors for the most part create interesting and sympathetic characters. I'll mention two characters that I liked most. First, Darryl Hannah plays "Angel," a character who is naive and innocent at heart, even though she's a stripper. There is a scene in the film in which she gets herself arrested by a cop, and how she gets arrested I will not disclose, but suffice it to say that it is ironic, funny, and sad. Second, Sandra Oh plays "Jasmine," a stripper who is secretly a poet at heart. She regularly attends a poetry reading and at one of those meetings, she gets involved with its organizer. He thinks that she is a great poet, and perhaps can even get published. She initially has reservations about their relationship, because she is a stripper, and she fears that he won't accept her because of that. He assures her that it doesn't bother him. Skipping forward, there is a scene between them which is my favorite in the film. He decides to visit the club where Jasmine works ("Blue Iguana") after she repeatedly failed to return his calls (and why she doesn't do so is wisely left understated by the film). She comes out and does one of her dance routines. He sees her for the first time for who she really is, a stripper. And although he doesn't say a word, his expression tells all: I do not approve of that. The sound track for this scene is Moby's song "Porcelain," and it feels like it was written specially for this scene. During the song's refrain ("So this is goodbye..."), he eventually gets up and leaves, obviously full of disappointment. Meanwhile, Jasmine continues her dance to a crowd of cheering audience, and although her face might remain expressionless, her eyes betray her true emotion: during her pole dance, tears flow down her cheeks. That scene really stayed with me for some time after the film ended. The girls that work at "Blue Iguana" are strippers, but they're people, too. And just like the rest of us, they seek true love, but are often left disappointed, and they have hopes and ambitions, which they often do not follow through. Watching Dancing at the Blue Iguana, I was reminded of a beautiful point that Roger Ebert made in his (print) review of Sid and Nancy, back in 1986: "If a movie can illuminate the lives of other people who share this planet with us and show us not only how different they are but, how even so, they share the same dreams and hurts, then it deserves to be called great." Dancing at the Blue Iguana is such a film, and it deserves to be called great.

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Kristin Bauer is incredible!!! johnnybeyond
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