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Film Review: The Last Showgirl
5 Stars
By Joseph Beyer | Jan. 25, 2025
You might be forgiven if, like me, you were suspicious about another independent film directed by yet another director with the last name Coppola. Of course there’s the patriarch Francis Ford (The Godfather), then his daughter Sofia (Lost in Translation), then his son producer Roman (The French Dispatch), and now most recently his granddaughter Gia.
Gia Coppola is the revelatory director behind The Last Showgirl, a new film starring an almost unrecognizable Pamela Anderson as the lead. It’s an intimate portrait-slash-metaphor of the American dream. And far from being the nepotistic indulgence you might expect, The Last Showgirl is accomplished, original, and displays true talent in the hands of the mid-career Coppola. At age 38, this is her third feature film.
Taking the audience on this journey and not looking back is actress Pamela Anderson as Shelly, the last of the fading Las Vegas showgirls once revered for their glamour, costumes, and dancing.
Shelly is the sweetest of souls, a mentor to the young dancers, and the keeper of the historical flame at Le Razzle Dazzle club where she has worked most of her life. This is the place where (for a few brief minutes each night) she still gets to experience the glow of show business and the relief of escaping her reality.
When the vintage club suddenly announces it’s closing, it’s not only the end of an era—it’s the end of the line for Shelly’s once glittering career. But like previous challenges she faced in her life, Shelly is not static. Instead she pours her soul into one last try to know, redefine, and find the best version of herself. And it’s exactly that wild vulnerability that will pull you in.
Anderson (a celebrity famous first as a Playboy model, then a global Baywatch star, and then for “breaking the internet” in a sex tape scandal with rocker Tommy Lee) has never been taken too seriously in pop culture. After fading from public view, The Last Showgirl is Anderson’s comeback at age 57. And it’s quite an unexpected and exceptional one.
In her hands, Shelly is anything but simple—and I was mesmerized.
Most notable is the tenderness and fierce love you’ll watch unfolding as Shelly the single mom as she tries to reconcile with her daughter Hannah, played by actress Billie Lourd. Both of them bring depth and sympathy to what might be dismissed as familiar, and their chemistry will pull your heartstrings in the best ways.
Backing up Anderson is actress Jamie Lee Curtis as Shelly’s dysfunctional but loved best friend, Annette. Just one of several stellar co-starring performances from an ensemble including Dave Bautista, Jason Schwartzman, and Kiernan Shipka, among others.
The palpable life-energy that seems to emanate from the screen comes in large part from the refreshing original script by writer Kate Gersten, whose credits include television’s The Good Place. The words and deeds Gersten gives her characters are rich and full and tragic.
The film is like Las Vegas itself, the nostalgic background for director Coppola and cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw to play with as so many have before them. Their blue-collar vision of Sin City is raw and routine (think a tone poem about minimum wage life). It feels like it could be everywhere and anywhere people are struggling with themselves.
The Last Showgirl does this all (and does it well) in just 1 hour and 29 minutes. Then it ends the metaphor in the perfect way, leaving you hoping the show won’t end and wanting more.
Rated R and now playing in select theaters, The Last Showgirl is expected to be available on-demand in February. The documentary Pamela, a Love Story is now streaming on Netflix, and a possible double-feature suggestion for those wanting to know more about Anderson’s personal life.
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