Wednesday April 8, 1998

     By day, she's Diana Armstrong, single mom and journalism major at a historically African American university in Atlanta. At night, she's Diana Diamond and she takes off her clothes and dances for dollars at a strip joint as raucous as the movie with which it shares its name, "The Players Club."
     As conceived by rapper-actor Ice Cube, who wrote, directed and co-produced the film, Diamond conveys some of the Mama-don't-take-no-mess confidence of such "blaxploitation" heroines of the 1970s as "Foxy Brown" and "Coffy." She can duke it out, even shoot it out, if the situation requires.
     Implausible as such a superwoman might sound, there's enough charm, conviction and charisma in the performance of newcomer LisaRaye to make you believe in and root for Diamond in her dubious struggle for dignity in undignified surroundings.
     Yet one is moved to ask, once again, where Hollywood comes by this impulse for casting beautiful black women as strippers: Vivica A. Fox in "Independence Day," Lela Rochon in "Gang Related" and now a whole club filled with such dynamos as Diamond and Ronnie, the club's star dancer, played with malevolent gusto by another rookie film actor, Chrystale Wilson. They're such strong presences they make you wonder what they'd be like dueling in a courtroom instead of a dressing room.
     As was the case with 1995's "Friday," for which Cube wrote the script, "Players Club" is loosely constructed with anecdotes flowing into each other with the ambling, hit-and-miss rhythm of a comedy routine. Also like "Friday," the movie is heavily populated with an all-star lineup of comics, including Jamie Foxx as the club's caustic disc jockey; Bernie Mac as Dollar Bill, the club's slime-ball owner; A.J. Johnson as Dollar's put-upon sidekick; and Adele Givens as a dancer with so much mileage on her that the club empties as soon as she swaggers onstage.
     Such casting may lead you to believe that "Players Club" is a laugh riot. But there's also a lot of grim, unsettling stuff, much of it involving Diamond's seemingly naive cousin Ebony (Monica Calhoun). Cube even casts himself as one of the film's unsavory characters.
     Despite the coarse edges of "The Players Club," there's a lot to be said for Cube's care in balancing the sweet and sour elements of his narrative. He's far from being a master. But he's a player for sure.

The Players Club, 1998. R, for strong language, sexual content and violence. New Line Cinema presents a film by Ice Cube. Produced by Patricia Charbonnet and Carl Craig. Written and directed by Ice Cube. Cinematography Malik Hassan Sayeed. Music Frank Fitzpatrick. Production design Dina Lipton. Costume design Dahlia Foroutan. Editing Suzanne Hines. Running time: 1 hour, 47 minutes. Monica Calhoun as Ebony. Ice Cube as Reggie. Jamie Foxx as Blue. Adele Givens as Tricks. LisaRaye as Diana Armstrong/Diana Diamond. Bernie Mac as Dollar Bill. Larry McCoy as St. Louis. Chrystale Wilson as Ronnie.