Burlesk King

Come for the naked, hard bodies (male and female) and wanton sexual couplings (gay, lesbian, and straight); stay for the melodrama. Filipino director Mel Chionglo's latest entry in the burgeoning "Macho Dancer" subgenre follows young Harry (Rodel Velayo) and his gigolo running buddy James (Leonardo Litton) as they flee their hometown of Olangapo following a run-in with local gangsters. Moving in with James' lesbian sister in Manila, the bodacious duo quickly get work at a male strip club. Harry is reluctant at first, but it isn't long before he's a full-on gigolo as well. Some cheesy and poorly integrated flashbacks later, we learn that Harry's been pimped out to all comers from an early age by his abusive father, and he's looking to get revenge, as well as possibly find his mother. Meanwhile, he falls for a female hooker with, natch, a heart of gold. While the first half of the film seems like a mere excuse to show naked people having sex, with just a little plot interspersed to make it interesting, the story actually comes into its own once Chionglo quits with the flashbacks and starts getting to the dramatic heart of the tale. The best thing about Burlesk King is that, like Boogie Nights, it depicts the strength of family values even in a family so twisted that everyone in it is pimping his or her body night after night. The only family member who isn't a hooker gets AIDS, but then, the character is due for some karmic retribution by that point. You may want to dislike the film at first, but stick with it: The setup may be overlong, but the movie attains some serious dramatic impact by the end.