The Last Showgirl film review: Pamela Anderson as you’ve never seen her
For over thirty years, Pamela Anderson has been a pop culture curiosity. The embodiment of 90s raunch thanks to her role in Baywatch, the star’s legacy has been pored over in numerous documentaries and TV shows. Here, she shows a more serious side in the drama The Last Showgirl.
She plays Shelly, a 57-year-old Vegas dancer who has performed for three decades in Le Razzle Dazzle, an old-fashioned revue in Las Vegas. Upon the news that the show will be closing, Shelly scrambles to work out what’s next in her life.
The film is directed by Gia Coppola, who examined modern internet fame in 2020 satire Mainstream, and now turns her attention to the idea of faded glamour. Striking a tone similar to The Wrestler, another story about a niche entertainer who gave everything for their career, there are moments of heartbreak as the audience meets a cast of characters who have seen themselves rejected by the bright lights.
The Last Showgirl: Pamela Anderson has the potential to stage a huge comeback after this
Kate Gersten’s script often tells the viewer what’s going when it should be showing us, but it remains a fascinating look at what happens when a dream turns to ash. The film is never better than when it allows Anderson to shine. She makes Shelly an endearing if deluded lead, convinced her 80s nude show is high art and that she is part of a substantial legacy. The realisation that she has mortgaged her future for a glittering present is painful to watch, particularly towards the end when she fights for relevance in an industry that only ever saw her as a pretty face.
She’s bolstered by the excellent Jamie Lee Curtis, playing a cocktail waitress who used to dance with Shelly. The tattered dignity in both performances is captivating, especially when the film just allows them to sit with their sorrow. A sequence set to 80s hit Total Eclipse Of The Heart allows both actors to be vulnerable in front of the camera, and offers a thoughtful pause before the inevitable downfall.
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Elsewhere, action star Dave Bautista is surprisingly tender as Eddie, the show’s producer who doesn’t always know when to say the right thing. Billie Lourd is fantastic as Shelly’s daughter Hannah, who grew up without her and becomes shocked to witness the life she came second to.
Anderson is bolstered by strong support from Brenda Song and Kiernan Shipka, playing much younger dancers who look at Shelly as a mother figure, much to her horror. While falling just short of the kind of impact that would see it among the Oscar favourites, The Last Showgirl is an emotionally powerful film that brings out the best in its lead star. The lights may have gone out on her character’s career, but this shows that Anderson has the potential to stage one of Hollywood’s great comebacks.
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