Too good for Oscar, THE LAST SHOWGIRL is a tight, bright, coruscating drama of dashed dreams, resilience and hope.
After 30 years as the face of a Las Vegas floor show, Shelly (Pamela Anderson) and her co-workers (Brenda Song and Kiernan Shipka) face an uncertain future when their stage manager (Dave Bautista) reveals that their act has been cancelled.
Supported by her brazen best friend, Annette (Jamie Lee Curtis), and with her career and identity on the line, Shelly must figure out what comes next—a daunting task when she is in her 50s, and the show has been her whole world. Feeling vulnerable, she tries to take control of her life and repair the relationship with her estranged daughter (Billie Lourd) who she fostered out in favour of her fervour for fame.
Screenwriter Kate Gersten had written an unproduced play about showgirls while she was a play writing fellow at Juilliard. Director Gia Coppola read the play, then called “Body of Work,” and decided it would make a cracker movie. Razzle Dazzle!
THE LAST SHOWGIRL is a story about women, beauty and ageing from a female perspective, of gender conditioning and disposability.
Pamela Anderson is painfully perfect as Shelly, embodying a palpable pathos in what could be discounted as a shamelessly selfish person.
Jamie Lee Curtis is brilliant as Annette, a showgirl deemed too old for their rhinestones, now working as a cocktail waitress, but losing shifts to younger, less experienced hires. Her mournful dance to Total Eclipse of the Heart, performed on a casino floor podium and completely ignored by passers-by is a heart breaker.
The lead male character in the primary cast is Eddie, the low-key stage manager of the canned Le Razzle Dazzle is poignantly played by Dave Bautista, adding a surprising element to a history that hovers over his interactions with Shelly.
The other male character, a theatre director who coldly dismisses Shelly minutes into her audition for a show, is played with steely indifference by Jason Schwartzman.
THE LAST SHOWGIRL is a mistressclass in showgirlship, with writing and direction and performance all on glittering show.
