THE LAST SHOWGIRL Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Gia Coppola
Stars: Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Bautista, Billie Lourd, Brenda Song, Kiernan Shipka, Jason Schwartzman.
This is a fine companion piece for The Substance in that both films deal with the treatment of women over a certain age in the unforgiving world of the entertainment business, an industry that values youth and beauty above all else. And both provide their leading ladies with one of the best roles of their careers, thrusting them back into the mainstream.
The Last Showgirl is a character study that follows two weeks in the life of Shelly (played by Pamela Anderson, best known to many for her role in the tv series Baywatch), a Las Vegas showgirl who has appeared in the all-singing and all-dancing Razzle Dazzle Follies revue since the late 80s. But now after thirty years and dwindling crowds the show is closing, and Shelly is uncertain about her future. At the age of 57 she now faces the prospect of having to audition for future roles, which makes her uncertain and uneasy. This triggers an existential crisis in Shelly. Shelly also tries to reconnect with her estranged daughter Hannah (Billie Lourd).
Director Gia Coppola, who is the granddaughter of the legendary Francis Ford Coppola, previously gave us Palo Alto. Here she takes us behind the scenes of the glittery world of Las Vegas showgirls to give us some insights into this world. I expected more backstage bitchiness and backstabbing, especially from the younger more ambitious showgirls (played by Brenda Song and Kiernan Shipka), but that is not what concerns Coppola or her screenwriter Kate Gersten, who hails from a background in television.
Cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, etc), works in closeup and handheld camera. But Arkapaw’s camera doesn’t capture the usual glitz and neon lit glamour that we usually see of Las Vegas, but rather she captures a depressing and decaying environment that seems a perfect metaphor for Shelly’s career and life. The costumes from Jacqueline Getty and Rainy Jacobs add to a sense of grandeur and showbiz excess, while Natalie Ziering’s production design brings authenticity to the settings.
The film marks something of a comeback for Anderson and gives her the best role of her career. Her face wears its experience as a badge of honour, and conveys the scars and lines from years of working and grinding away to eke out a living. Jamie Lee Curtis has a memorable scene as Annette, an older former showgirl well past her use by date, who now drinks to excess and ekes out a living as a cocktail waitress in a casino. The scene in which she drunkenly does an interpretive dance on a tabletop to Bonnie Tyler’s hit Total Eclipse Of The Heart will remain with audiences after they leave the cinema. Dave Bautista shows a more vulnerable and sympathetic side of his usual tough screen persona with his thoughtful performance as Eddie, the show manager who has a soft spot for Shelly. Jason Schwartzman contributes a late cameo as s director of a new Vegas production who delivers some brutal truths to Shelly about the realities of life as a showgirl and the business.
And The Last Showgirl also features a strong soundtrack of 80s power ballads.
★★★
