Sunset Strip Reviews

Directed by Paul G. Volk, SUNSET STRIP is a formulaic, bargain-basement version of FLASHDANCE. Heather (Michelle Foreman) lands a job at an LA striptease club in order to hone her dancing skills while she prepares for a dance contest. Nervous at first, Heather eventually gets used to performing in the rowdy, smoke-filled joint. She quickly befriends Crystal (Cameron), Jonsey (Michelle Clunie) and the other dancers. From here on, the movie basically jumps back and forth from Heather in dance class to Heather at the club--with literally half the film resembling a how-to video on striptease dancing. In between all of this, Heather gets involved with the suave club owner Tony (Jeff Conaway). And when the day of the big competition comes around, Heather wins the dance scholarship. The characters in SUNSET STRIP are undeveloped, and consequently not sympathetic. But the actors manage to do a competent job with the material they've been given. (Nick Stone wrote the screenplay.) However, the film has several scenes which are photographed well by Ken Blakey. Particularly impressive is the b&w, slow-motion, flashback sequence wherein Heather, stripping for the first time, freezes up and then runs out of the club humiliated. But in the final analysis, SUNSET STRIP is predictable and shamelessly structured after FLASHDANCE. Everything from the talk Heather has with the retired burlesque dancer, to the final scene at the dance competition, is modeled after the 1983 Jennifer Beals smash. (Violence, partial nudity, sexual situations.)