I was a freshman in high school when Baywatch debuted, so I have always had a very particular view of who Pamela Anderson is as an actor. She was the Playgirl with the most covers on Playboy, the object of Borat’s lust, and the unfortunate victim of a leaked sex tape. Gia Coppola clearly knows Anderson’s background and used that to add another layer to her latest film, The Last Showgirl.
Shelly (Pamela Anderson) has been a showgirl for Le Razzle Dazzle for her entire adult life, and now it is closing in just two weeks. Her life’s work is wrapped up in this Vegas burlesque show, and she has sacrificed everything else to be a part of it, including a relationship with her daughter, Hannah (Billie Lourd). Despite the declining income, the loss of prime showtimes, and the public’s overall lack of interest in the feathers and rhinestones, Shelly is devastated by the upcoming end of the show.
Shelly explains the show’s history to her young co-workers, Mary-Anne (Brenda Song) and Jodie (Kiernan Shipka), and is passionate about its relationship to Parisian culture. She pleads with the show manager, Eddie (Dave Bautista), to try to find a way to extend the life of the show, but in just a few weeks, Le Razzle Dazzle is closing, and Shelly will have to find work somewhere else, either in another show or as a cocktail waitress like her friend Annette (Jamie Lee Curtis).
Right out of the gate, I will say that The Last Showgirl is not one of the best-written scripts I’ve ever seen. Characters, especially Mary-Anne and Jodie, are a bit underwritten, and there isn’t much of a narrative to speak of, but even so, the performances more than make up for any lack that exists. This is a movie that is more of a feeling than a story, and Kate Gersten’s script understands that. That said, it can seem a bit unsatisfying to not have more information about the characters that we’re introduced to in these two weeks.
And the performances really do shine in this film. Song and Shipka both act as stand-ins for Shelly’s real daughter, and they play that to perfection. Song is the good girl and Shipka acts as more of the rebel, but the two of them need her, and when Shelly turns away from them, their performances are masterful.
Jamie Lee Curtis is, as always, an absolute scene-stealer. We see in her the path of the woman who saw the writing on the wall a while ago and made her exit before she was let go. But her gambling addiction keeps her tethered to Vegas in a way that is unhealthy and a little bit sad, and Curtis brings that to the screen beautifully.
Bautista continues to show his range as an actor, giving us a gentle performance as the man who holds the livelihoods of so many women in his hands. He is able to convey so much empathy to the performers in his employ. His desire to do right by these women is evident, even when he is powerless to do so.
However, the clear standout is Anderson as the titular last showgirl. Whether she is dancing like a ballerina in her living room to The Red Shoes or is on stage auditioning for a new, sexier show, we see her desperation to be seen as beautiful and relevant in every frame of the film. Anderson brings her experience of being seen as an object to an entire generation to her performance, and it creates one of the most electrifying moments of acting we’ve seen this year.
One of the most impressive aspects of the story’s unfolding is that it brilliantly conveys the disconnect that can exist between those who are young and just starting out in a field and those who have been doing it for a long time. Sometimes, when you’re young and talented, as both Mary-Anne and Jodie are, you can see the deficits in what has always been. Moving on doesn’t seem impossible, and listening to the concerns of someone older can feel like a kind of prison.
But it also shows how devastating it can feel to be discarded when you have poured your life into something. When you care about the history, the craft, and the people but are seeing all of that slipping away with nothing to replace it. In one of the most powerful scenes, Shelly is auditioning for a new show, and the director (with a phenomenal cameo from Jason Schwartzman) tells her that she got her job at Le Razzle Dazzle because she was young and beautiful. Shelly fires back that she is still beautiful before walking out.
In its best moments, The Last Showgirl is a powerful examination of everyone’s desire to forge their own path and to be recognized as valuable. Not because of what you bring to someone else as an employee or parent or pretty thing to look at, but simply as a person.
The Last Showgirl is now in theaters.
Learn more about the film, including how to buy tickets, at the official website.
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