The Naked Truth (I) (2003 Video) User Reviews

low budget

[Dreammaker182 · 4/10 · 22 November 2004]

Well this film was well written by Culpepper, but the movie lacked in many areas and looked a bit amateur. The Cinematography department lacked at times, but the director did pick up on some good angles in some portions of the film. I also felt that some of the acting by the main characters looked a little too much like theatre...It really didn't look like the type of acting that you would expect from a feature presentation.

If you rent this movie from Blockbuster like I did, watch it again in the "Directors Commentary" mode... You'll understand just how low budget this film was.

Over all, this movie was OK, not worth the $4 I paid to rent it, but good enough for HBO or Cinemax late night entertainment

Pretty good...

[KALE808 · 26 June 2004]

Although this movie has a lot in common with Ice Cube's theatrically released "Player's Club," which clearly had a bigger budget, "The Naked Truth" is in some ways a better film. Where "Player's Club" was episodic, "The Naked Truth" goes for slice of life; where "Player's Club" was melodramatic, "The Naked Truth" achieves such verisimilitude that at times it feels like a documentary.

Writer/director Ray Culpepper really got some nuanced performances from his cast. Unlike many African American movies, which feel like they're straining to mimic the lingo on the streets, the characters in this movie don't sound like Ebonics poster children, but rather true to the black community.

The story, about three economically distressed women looking to escape their financial despair though dancing at a club, is fairly routine stuff. But because these women's predicaments don't feel concocted and they never come off as victims, what could've been a hackneyed plot takes on an added dimension as the believability of these girls stories draws us in. As just one example, when the main dancer, Cat, gets "caught up" drinking Hennessey and playing cards with a couple self-proclaimed movie producers, what ensues could have played as a maudlin gang rape scene. Instead, when Cat wakes up the next morning with only faint memories of the previous night's escapades (brief flashback scenes straddle the fence between rough sex and rape), she surmises: "I don't know what they put in my drink, but I should have known: You can't trust no one from the club."

Finally, for those fans that rented this mainly for Ki Toy Johnson, you won't be disappointed. Ms. Johnson has decent acting chops (note the payphone scene where she realizes she doesn't have a way to get back to her job) and there are enough sexy shots of her to justify the rental. However, in the sexiness department Tiana Johnson as Cat is the real stand out of this movie.

Bottom line: While this movie is not without flaws (e.g., it feels slow in parts and has too many gratuitous strip club scenes that don't feature the main players), I still consider it well worth the rental. Thumbs up!

Fun movie

[danceability · 10/10 · 6 June 2009]

Fun movie, This movie is hot. You see a lot of hot women shaking their thang, and at the same time you get a really good story. Unlike other movies where strippers are portrayed as one-dimensional people, the director manages to portray each stripper as a person and a dancer. Some of these women are really hot looking. Some of the acting isn't so good, and some of the acting is pretty good, but it all comes together quite nicely in the end. Watch this movie if you want to see women dancing on poles, and you want to get a good story out of it. Another thing, this movie is realistic.

danceability, Amsterdam