Falconeer It's really too bad that people think of "A Night In Heaven" as 'the male stripper movie,' because it's really not that at all. Yes the wife has an affair with her student, who happens to be a stripper, but this accounts for maybe 10 minutes of screen time. At it's center is a believable study of a marriage on the rocks, after a husband loses his job, and begins to completely alienate his wife. Lesley Ann Warren is good in her role as Faye, the wife who begins to feel insecure, and undesirable after her husband shuts her out. When she finds herself attracting the attention of one of her young, handsome students (Chris Atkins) she resists as best she can, but soon an affair ensues, that might possibly have some serious consequences. The interesting thing about the movie is how the husband and wife interact. They have such different views of what is really happening. "A Night In Heaven" doesn't dissolve into a smutty exploitation film, nor does it deteriorate into some 'revenge flick' at the end. The husband is actually perceptive enough to see that his wife's affair was perhaps, his fault. Directed by the man behind the original "Rocky," some qualities of that film are evident here, as well as some themes. It's physical, and passionate, and it has a kind of urban grittiness about it. An odd, obscure film from the 80's, worth seeing for some quality drama and good performances...and yes, some very sexy scenes too..

triple8 SPOIlERS THROUGH:There are a lot more movies made about female strippers then male. In fact I can count on one hand the number of movies I've heard of, made about men taking it off and this is the only one I can recall that wasn't made for television. So, being that this is not a subject that has been overdone, you'd think the movie would have been more interesting then it ultimately turns out to be.First off the flirtatious male stripper is played by Chris Atkins. Now I don't think he's a terrible actor, not at all, and he is a handsome guy. But I didn't buy him in the role at all, mainly because his character just doesn't seem like a male stripper-he's almost to innocent. He always just seemed like a kid with a crush on an older woman. That's it. It's difficult to get into a movie about a male stripper if you don't believe the fact that the Guy Is, in fact, a male stripper. That's not Atkins fault, it's his character himself but the believability aspect was not there on that end. Then there's the chemistry of Atkins and Leslie Ann Warren which is next to none. If this movie wasn't going to have a lot of depth at least it should have had unforgettable chemistry between the leads and that never happened. I didn't buy Warren in this role either and the two together didn't quite fit.Then there's the fact that the movie itself just wasn't that....well....interesting. You'd think it would at least be a little compelling since the subject matter is a little off the beaten path and there aren't many movies about this topic. But the movie, even though it's relatively short, is not compelling, not at all. It isn't bad, or unwatchable but it is just not that interesting.The scenes of the male strippers stripping were completely over the top and not very sexy. But again they should have been. Instead they almost become campy at times. This is a movie that had great potential but somehow it just never comes together. I think the idea of this movie is actually a great one, (after all there are so many movies about female strippers). It would never have been an Oscar winner but had potential as something really different or at least could have explored the Infidelity aspect in the way of a film like "Unfaithful" but it never happens.Then there's the ending. The scene where the husband kidnaps the male stripper on the boat added nothing to the movie and actually took it down a notch. I didn't buy the reconciliation at the end either. Again this isn't a terrible movie but it is disappointing.It is fun to see all the eighties hair styles and other eighties stuff but I wasn't that into the movie. My vote is 5 out of 10.

hilljayne Here's another movie that gets a bad rep. What happens is every 10 years or so a film comes along tailor made for women (and gay men) and people (most likely straight men) go berserk. They weren't trying to remake Gone With The Wind but were simply trying to please the audience with the assets and charms of that beautiful 1980s underrated heart-throb Christopher Atkins. Forever regulated to "the blonde haired guy in the Brooke Shields movie"(the Blue Lagoon), this was his chance to shine. And he DOES! But of course, men reviewers and maybe some uptight female ones slammed the movie. It is actually entertaining with a good and subdued performance from Lesley Ann Warren not playing her usual "nervous broad" type role here. There is even a featured role by 1970s and 1980s Dance Fever host Deney Terio. The chemistry between Chris and Lesley is incredible and undeniable. Their sex scene is like a taking a peak in real life....was that a tongue he slipped her? Awesome soundtrack featuring the song Heaven by Bryan Adams and an early version of the hit song Obsession, later to be recorded by Animotion. But the real star is of course Christopher. What he is presumed to have lacked in thespian quality he more than makes up for, not only with his gorgeous looks, but also charisma. He never wanted to be Spencer Tracy...he simply wanted to entertain us...and in A Night In Heaven - he DOES! Viva Atkins!

Poseidon-3 What would happen if Cinderella doffed her mousy clothes and her frumpy hair and glasses and dolled up to go to the ball, but, instead of Prince Charming, met a stripper who gyrated his crotch in her face? This film examines this burning question. Warren (whose first exposure to the world at large was, of course, in the 1965 version of "Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella") plays a speech teacher at a Florida community college. With her hair in a snug bun and her blouses all buttoned up, she defines the word prim. Her husband (Logan) is a rocket scientist (!) at NASA who is experiencing a mid-life crisis stemming from the loss of his job. When Warren's rather raucous sister Rush comes into town, Warren joins her for a ladies night at a local club called Heaven. Rush curls Warren's hair, plasters her with 80's makeup and yanks the shoulders of her red dress down so that her sex appeal can be shown to its full advantage. A blushing Warren enters the club to see male dancers trotting around in various stages of undress as rabid women cram money into their thongs and, in some cases, rush up on stage to fondle or be fondled. Just as she's beginning to think she can make it through one of the numbers with her eyes fully open, the star attraction comes out - Ricky the Rocket - and when he removes his helmet, she realizes that he's one of the students she has just flunked for not taking his speech seriously enough! Atkins plays the student-by-day, stripper-by-night. He, rather than shying away from her, proceeds to climb on top of her and wiggle his package in her stunned face. They also share a hilariously protracted and exploratory wet kiss in the middle of his routine! In a bizarre and not-very-subtle juxtaposition, Logan is at home fondling a phallic model of a rocket while Warren is in Heaven fondling Atkin's rocket! A series of contrived coincidences place these two in each others' company a few more times (once in Logan's presence) and before long, Warren (who is sexually vulnerable thanks to Logan's disinterest) starts to fall for the kid with a body like Michelangelo's David and a face not too far removed from Alfred E. Neuman. They take part in one strikingly vivid seduction scene in which Atkin's goes full monty while Warren keeps most everything on. Finally waking up to the fact that his wife is slipping away from him, Logan goes after Atkins and confronts him in a hysterical climax which has naked Atkins screaming like a baby. This is followed by a ludicrous denouement as the title song descends onto the closing credits. It's patently clear that some pre-release tampering took this from a thoughtful, balanced examination of a then-new phenomenon and turned it into a short, cheap, exploitation flick. The director, having won an Oscar for "Rocky", clearly lost the battle over final cut. The first five minutes of the film are devoted to Logan riding a bicycle home from work! This laid-back, evocative sequence has nothing to do with all the tawdriness which will follow. It would have been better to see more of the lives of Atkins and Warren, since the bulk of the film concerns their characters and not really Logan's. Warren works overtime throughout this movie to bring a sense of dimension and dignity to her tacky role. She injects heart and feeling into virtually every frame she's in despite the surrounding cheapness. Atkins (who somehow wrangled top-billing even though it is not his story and he would soon be relegated to television after the one-two punch of "The Pirate Movie" and then this film!) is quite horrible. Not only does he not resemble the types of men who were stripping at that time, but he can't give his lines anything other than a flat, amateurish reading. Logan (who, from the looks of his bike pants at the beginning, has at least as good a body as Atkins!) is good at playing the dejected and pouty husband, but his character is forced to engage in some really ridiculous activity. Rush does a nice job as Warren's sister, Elias is just right as a frenetic friend and Snodgrass adds a touch of spark to her nothing role as Atkin's mother. Some other supporting roles are filled by rather unremarkable women who went nowhere after this. Among Atkin's peers are notorious Merv Griffin protégé and "Dance Fever" host Terrio and "Star Search" singing champ Gian. In a blink-and-you'll-miss-him bit is Garcia. The film is remarkable in its depiction of the early days of male stripping, when the dancers came into close physical contact with the ladies, kissing them and more (all of this supposedly researched thoroughly by the female screenwriter.) It also boasts an intriguing soundtrack of songs. Besides the famous title number by Bryan Adams is an early version of the song "Obsession", sung by someone other than Animotion, the act that made it famous. It probably isn't considered an important enough film to warrant reconstruction, but an edit closer to it's original conception would be very interesting to see. The version released to theaters and home video is brief, trite, pat and, worst of all, confusing, with more than one subplot left dangling and character motivations making little sense.