The Last Showgirl (2024) review

Dir. Gia Coppola

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★★½

While the term is never spoken in the film itself, “The Last Showgirl” is a moniker that would likely be embraced by Pamela Anderson’s Shelly Gardner, should someone call her that. For over 30 years, she’s dutifully been a part of Le Razzle Dazzle, a Vegas show that has gone on for so long it’s unintentionally become a throwback to Strip shows. It’s musty and archaic compared to Cirque du Soleil and the shows that give audiences both nudity and new spins on burlesque costuming and dance.

This doesn’t mean shit to Shelly, who is very proud of her work, deservedly so. Six nights a week, she dons her rhinestone lingerie and feathers, and when she makes the long haul from the dressing room to the stage, surrounded by other girls, passing the show’s longtime producer, Eddie (Dave Bautista), just before being bathed in the bright lights, nobody can tell her this show is old, irrelevant, or what-have-you. “It’s a descendant of Parisian Lido culture,” she screams at her younger contemporaries, who internally wonder why she never aimed higher in the Sin City entertainment world.

In some ways, Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl reworks the old philosophical thought experiment that is “if a tree falls in the forest, and there’s no one there to hear it, does it make a sound?” In Shelly’s case, she harbors all the nostalgia and history of Le Razzle Dazzle. The look of excitement on her face as she perfects her makeup and her outfit suggests she’s just waiting for someone to ask her about something remotely related to the show, so she can expound about its legacy in Vegas and its ties to Parisian culture. But if you have all this knowledge, and nobody cares to hear it, does it really matter?

Like any quality work family, the women of Le Razzle Dazzle spend more time with one another than they do their own families. Shelly, who is in her late-50s, has become the de facto mother figure to a cohort of young women (Kiernan Shipka, Brenda Song) who view the show as their step to more high-profile, well-attended shows in Vegas. Everyone must act fast on a moment’s notice, however, when Eddie informs them that the show will be ending its lengthy run in Vegas in merely two weeks.

Shelly’s de facto mother figure is Annette (Jamie Lee Curtis), a retired showgirl, who now works as a cocktail waitress to fund her gambling addiction. Eddie supports both of them via dropping by with food and lending both ears to their problems. They’re all hot messes, but they have years of experience in managing crises, stretching a dollar, and making the most of what life throws at them.

The Last Showgirl takes place over the course of two weeks, and despite what its 89-minute runtime suggests, it doesn’t try to rush its own process. It’s languid in its pacing, lingering on stray conversations between its triangle of characters, with a script by TV writer Kate Gersten (The Good Place) that doesn’t try to hurry the characters into conflicts nor easy resolutions. Like Annette and Eddie, Shelly floats through her life, grappling with the closure of her livelihood while also trying to make nice with her college-aged daughter, Hannah (Billie Lourd). Hannah is studying photography, and pops up one day to get a firsthand look at what was more important to her mother than spending time with her as a child. Shelly does all she can to bypass the raw emotion and put on a face that suggests “all is well” to no avail. Hannah’s hostility is so thick that a knife wouldn’t cut it. Turning up at her the perceived end of her mother’s career is hardly a good time, but as someone who was a child, left in a car with a Gameboy while her mother performed in back-to-back shows, Hannah hardly cares whether or not she’s an inconvenience.

Much has been made about Pamela Anderson’s performance, and I’m here to echo all of it. Her turn as Shelly is authentic and feels lived-in. It wasn’t that long ago we saw Anderson strutting around on Baywatch, soaking up the stagelights and the limelight that accompanied it. It’s no coincidence that Shelly is 57-years-old, the same age as Anderson. At this point, a victory lap is in order, but what kind of victory lap do you take when you still want to bask in the glory of your peak? Anderson is exceptional, and with Coppola’s gentle, empathetic direction and Gersten’s thoughtful script, her talents are here to shine.

Curtis, who won an Oscar for her impactful performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once, shines as Annette in a role even more brief. Coppola dedicated a lengthy scene, shot with a long take, of her working as a cocktail waitress dancing to “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in a scene that’s equal parts empowering and desperate for attention. Moreover, the scene is what you make of it. That’s what I saw. The beautiful part about Coppola’s tender, affectionate positioning is she doesn’t guide your feelings. And finally, we need to start talking about how Dave Bautista can admirably handle any and every role thrown at him. He’s low-key and exceptional here, complementing The Last Showgirl, a film that deserves more attention than it deserves to get.

Starring: Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Bautista, Billie Lourd, Brenda Song, and Kiernan Shipka. Directed by: Gia Coppola.