The Last Showgirl Review: Pamela Anderson Excels in Lead Performance

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  • Thoughtful Ideas Under Blurry Visuals
  • A Collection of Stars Lights Up Vegas

As a film critic with over three decades of experience under my belt and having seen countless films that have graced the silver screen, I must say that “The Last Showgirl” is a remarkable piece of cinema that truly resonates with me on a deeply personal level.

On April 2, 2024, The Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas shut its doors for good, set to be torn down on October 9, 2024. Notably, the Tropicana was home to Les Folies Bergère, a stage show that held the record for the longest-running in Las Vegas history, spanning an impressive 50 years. With roots deeply embedded in France, this show revolutionized the perception of Vegas showgirls by featuring intricate costumes and towering headpieces adorned with vibrant bird feathers and painstakingly designed rhinestones, elaborate backdrops, nude dancing, and live orchestras performing original music.

The image of the showgirl, synonymous with Vegas, became an enduring symbol of pop culture, but as time passed, its popularity began to wane. In a poignant twist, Les Folies Bergère, the emblematic venue that embodied this iconic image, held its final show on March 28, 2009, marking the end of an era in Vegas. The city’s defining symbol seemed to lose relevance in the very place it once defined. This historical backdrop forms the basis for Gia Coppola’s film, The Last Showgirl, featuring a powerful performance by Pamela Anderson. In this movie, her star image is dismantled and reconstructed to underscore and reestablish its power.

The Final Curtain: This narrative focuses on Shelley, a long-time performer at a struggling Vegas show. With the venue set to close after almost 30 years, Shelley finds herself jobless in an industry often indifferent towards women her age and increasingly more provocative than she prefers. As the final month unfolds, Shelley rekindles her relationship with daughter Hannah (Bille Lourde) and reflects on her life’s decisions, her role as a mother, an entertainer, and an individual.

Pamela Anderson Changes the Game in ‘The Last Showgirl’

The main focus in discussions about “The Last Showgirl” has predominantly revolved around Pamela Anderson, and this is justified as she delivers a performance that significantly redefines her career. While transforming or immersing oneself into a role is frequently highlighted in acting critiques, it doesn’t necessarily dictate a stellar performance. Instead, there are instances where the perfect blend of a star and their character occurs, enabling them to infuse a piece of themselves into the performance, thus making the character appear as an extension of themselves.

In this movie, Anderson’s selection as the lead actress holds significant symbolism for the production, given her high-profile background and the tendency for people to focus more on her celebrity status than her acting skills. Since this film was deeply personal for Anderson, it seems she identifies strongly with Shelley, creating a powerful bond between the actress and her role. This fusion of star and character gives Shelley a richer dimension, which Anderson skillfully brings to the screen.

In this portrayal, Anderson doesn’t just go through the motions or play a caricature of herself. Instead, she delivers an incredibly impactful performance, characterized by quiet strength, compassion, and a persistent self-doubt even from those around her, including herself. Anderson consistently shines on screen, illuminating every scene she appears in. In this role, she puts forth considerable effort, and when her character finally breaks under the burden of uncertainty and being rejected because she no longer fits the conventional definition of beauty, it’s a profoundly moving, justified moment that seems to draw heavily from Anderson’s personal experiences. As a result, she delivers one of the year’s best performances, and the recent Golden Globe nomination is well-deserved.

Thoughtful Ideas Under Blurry Visuals

In simpler terms, “The Last Showgirl” marks Gia Coppola’s third movie, following “Palo Alto” in 2013 and “Mainstream” in 2020. While “The Last Showgirl” shows progress over the latter film, it seems that Coppola is still refining her unique directorial style. This isn’t meant as a criticism, as not having a defined style doesn’t necessarily reflect a lack of skill in a filmmaker. However, it’s slightly disappointing that she hasn’t yet developed a distinct approach that sets her apart from other directors working on smaller, character-driven dramas.

Coppola enlists Autumn Durald Arkapaw, renowned for her work on Loki and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, to contribute her distinctive dreamy visual style to The Last Showgirl. Arkapaw employs a soft lens throughout The Last Showgirl, accentuating deep shadows and creating a misty, ethereal atmosphere. Her technique can be divisive, and some shots in The Last Showgirl seem precariously close to out-of-focus, but the imagery harmonizes better with this film than it did with Loki. This washed-out aesthetic aligns with the mental state and tone of Anderson’s Shelley, a woman grappling with the realization that her best days may be over and facing an unpredictable future. The lighting is dim, mirroring Shelley’s waning glory.

In a similar vein, “The Last Showgirl” allows Coppola to delve into the unsteady aspect of popularity, focusing on the biased treatment women in show business endure, whether it’s Las Vegas or Hollywood. As time passes, it leverages Pamela Anderson’s celebrity image as a foundation. One captivating topic this movie tackles is shifting waves of feminism, with a special focus on sexuality.

There’s a fascinating contrast between Shelley, a Vegas showgirl who performs nudity, and her younger colleagues who seem open to more explicit performances in today’s Vegas scene. In Shelley’s perspective, the older style of showgirl performance holds more artistic value due to its French influence and rich history, which her daughter doesn’t appreciate. On the other hand, Shelley’s daughter views her mother as overly liberal sexually, while her co-workers consider the newer performances as just a modern take on what they’ve been doing all along – neither side sees the other’s viewpoint as more or less sexualized.

The Last Showgirl, being predominantly a film about internal exploration and self-discovery, frequently employs scenes of characters aimlessly wandering through Las Vegas as a means of expressing this theme. However, these sequences, while effectively conveying the idea of Vegas’s past fading away along with the characters, are repetitively used. This results in an overreliance on this filmmaking technique, making it seem more like a prop than a genuine representation of contemplation. To add depth to the characters and make the narrative more engaging, it would have been beneficial to introduce more scenes focusing on interactions between these individuals rather than relying so heavily on the Vegas walking sequences.

A Collection of Stars Lights Up Vegas

Coppola excels as a director by having a knack for discovering talent and eliciting outstanding performances from actors. She took a chance by casting Pamela Anderson in a role that others might have hesitated to give her, but she also gathered a diverse cast to back her up and bring the story to life authentically. The ensemble includes stars spanning an Academy Award winner, a Marvel superhero, a Disney Channel alum, and an up-and-coming star, creating one of the year’s most impressive ensembles. However, the movie’s compact runtime and propensity for meandering through scenes can result in some characters not being fully developed, with their emotional depth primarily relying on the charm of the lead actors to carry the burden. This is particularly evident in the characters Marie-Anne and Jodie, portrayed by Brenda Song and Kiernan Shipka.

In “The Last Showgirl,” Song demonstrates her versatility as an underappreciated comedian, taking on a more serious, cynical role that conveys a weary and sarcastic demeanor, intertwined with empathy and a touch of melancholy – a characterization fitting for a millennial. On the other hand, Shipka, who appears in “The Last Showgirl” as her fifth major role of 2024 following “Longlegs,” “Twisters,” “Red One,” and “Sweethearts,” portrays a young, innocent character that mirrors Anderson’s Shelley. However, this character also serves as a surrogate daughter, showcasing similarities in their initial stages but also providing a contrast in their growth.

In the movie, Song and Shipka deliver compelling performances, but it appears the narrative focuses more on how they contribute to developing Shelley’s character rather than giving them well-rounded roles of their own. The scenes between Anderson, Song, and Shipka are powerful, with Shipka portraying emotional depth when pleading for aid, while Song shows empathy as she attempts to console a friend in distress. However, the film fails to fully resolve the story arcs of Song and Shipka by the end, leaving their characters underdeveloped compared to Anderson’s Shelley.

In a slightly improved portrayal, Dave Bautista’s character Eddie, the Vegas show producer, gains complexity due to diverse female perspectives towards him. As the main male figure in the narrative, his past with Shelley (portrayed by Billie Lourd) adds depth, making Bautista stand out as an exceptional wrestler-turned-actor. Essentially, Bautista’s character is shown to be sensitive and slightly awkward, unafraid to challenge his public persona.

As a dedicated cinephile, I must say that the climactic scene in The Last Showgirl seems to hold the key to redeeming Coppola’s mastery for me in the end. This is the sole instance where the dance performance unfolds, leaving us, the audience, with an unveiling of the spectacle that has been subtly hinted at throughout the movie. The camera refrains from panning to the crowd, avoiding revealing whether this final gathering is a grand farewell or a sparse audience like the rest of the film because, in this critical moment, such details become irrelevant. Instead, the spotlight, both literally and metaphorically, is squarely on Shelley, ensuring that Anderson’s performance shines brighter than ever under Coppola and Arkapaw’s watchful eyes.

In the closing scene, Anderson’s radiant moments hinted at a joyful exuberance for being on stage, yet concealed tears as she bid her final farewell, all while “Beautiful That Way” by Miley Cyrus played, amplifying the emotional climax of Anderson’s entire career. It seems like this moment was the culmination of everything that had come before, making it one of the most poignant final scenes in a movie this year. The Last Showgirl, distributed by Roadside Attraction, premieres on limited release on December 13, 2024, and expands into wide release on January 10, 2025.

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2024-12-10 16:36