The Players Club movie is a black urban comedy classic from 1998. The Players Club was also the first movie that, west coast rapper, Ice Cube ever directed. This film featured legends such as Bernie Mack, Charlie Murphy, and Uncle Luke, to name a few.
The movie begins as a memory is being shared by Diana Armstrong played by, star of the film, Lisa Raye. She begins her memory by sharing what it was like in the early days when she started working at The Players Club after getting pregnant with her son, Jamaal. She explains how she met Ronnie and Tricks, played by Chrystale Wilson and Adele Givens, after moving out of her parent’s home to become a student at a local HBCU. Ronnie and Tricks convince Diana to meet their boss, Dollar Bill, played by Bernie Mack. This then leads to her employment at The Players Club as a stripper named “Diamond”.
After several interesting experiences as a dancer in the club, Diamond attempts to protect her cousin Ebony (Monica Calhoun), a new young dancer in the club, from two henchmen plotting to take advantage of her. The henchmen, played by Ice Cube and Alex Thomas, both work for a drug lord named St. Louis who, at the time of the incident, had sent Dollar Bill a warning to make a $10,000 towards the $60,000 he is owed before the end of the night or else. When Dollar Bill doesn’t pay, St. Louis visits the club to confront Dollar Bill, but is met by his doorman, played by Anthony Johnson, who tells him that Dollar Bill was not there. Later, when Dollar Bill tries to leave, he is then beat up and captured by St. Lous’ muscle, Brooklyn and K.C., played by Charlie Murphy and Terrence Howard. Luckily for him, they are stopped by, crooked cops, Freeman (John Amos) and Peters (Faizon Love), who then arrest Dollar Bill on warrants and saves his life. He is later bailed out and returns to the club the same night.
The next night the popular Florida rapper, Uncle Luke, visits the club and Dollar Bill is convinced that he is about to make a fortune. Instead, fights and gunfire break out leaving Dollar Bill and his dancers scared and disappointed. Meanwhile, during the charade, Ronnie tries to assault Diamond in the locker room but is interrupted when Tricks bust in screaming about the shooting that was taking place in The Players Club upstairs.
Afterwards, Diamond goes home to find her cousin Ebony in bed with her ex-boyfriend who recently broke up with her. She then, angerly, fires several gun shots in his direction, hits Ebony, and throws them both out of her apartment.
One night, while on a date with Blue (Jamie Foxx), Diamond receives a call from Ebony begging her to pick her up from where she was. Still angry, Diamond refuses, but later sends Blue who finds her beaten and raped. Using the information Ebony shared, Diamond then carries her gun to confront Ronnie and Tricks about the incident. The confrontation ends with Ronnie badly beaten and Diamond saying her last words to her boss, Dollar Bill. The police, soon after, pick up everyone involved with her cousin’s rape. Later that evening, drug lord, St. Louis returns to the The Players Club warning everyone to leave before spraying it with bullets and having his goon, Brooklyn, shoot it with a rocket to finish it off.
In the last scene, Diana recalls from her memory that her cousin later started working at the shoe store she met Ronnie and Tricks in before moving back to Florida to be with her mother. She shared rumors and information about everyone else she met who was affiliated with The Player’s Club and talked about her new success as a reporter after having moved on in her new life with her son and boyfriend.
Other stars in the The Players Club movie, not yet mentioned include Master P, Tiny Lister, Faizon Love, Michael Clarke Duncan, John Amos, Montae Russell, and Samuel Monroe Jr..
The Players Club movie debuted at number 5 in the box office and grossed a total of $23,261,485. The film also released a successful soundtrack which peaked at #10 on the Billboard 200 and number 2 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The soundtrack featured artists such as Jay-Z, Master P, DMX and, among others, the film’s star and director, Ice Cube.