The Last Showgirl
Anderson dazzles as an aging showgirl facing the final curtain call.
Some actors were just born to play particular roles. One can’t help but apply this notion to Pamela Anderson (“Baywatch,” “Barbed Wire”), whose performance in the film has already earned her a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nomination.
“The Last Showgirl” chronicles two weeks in the life of Shelly (Anderson), a seasoned performer who receives surprising news that her Vegas show is ending. She struggles to remain hopeful while contemplating her identity outside of the production she’s headlined for 30 years. She’s also trying to navigate a brittle relationship with her estranged daughter, Hannah (Billie Lourd).
While Vegas seems to be outgrowing her, Shelly reminisces about her early days while mentoring the younger dancers in the troupe. She continues preserving the quality of her craft with daily practice routines, even as the show’s end draws near.
Anderson arranges a graceful energy to her character’s inner journey. With breathy articulation, she evokes a carefree optimism resembling Marilyn Monroe at times and, occasionally, a little girl lost at the circus. With glimpses of inner melancholy and complex insight, she achieves an inspired performance worthy of an encore.
Jamie Lee Curtis (“Knives Out,” “Everything Everywhere All At Once”) plays Annette, Shelly’s cocktail waitress friend who can’t get out of her own way, drinking and gambling without any plans for the future. Curtis is superb and particularly poignant during a scene when Annette breaks from her dead-in job and dances to “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”
Dave Bautista (“Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Stuber”) is Eddie, a stage manager whose special bond with Shelly reserves his place in the friend group, although it isn’t clear who is keeping who around. Even though the screenplay allows little character transformation, preventing him from wading deeper into his abilities, Bautista may surprise fans with his moving performance.
Director and Producer Gia Coppola captures Shelly in the varying aesthetics of her divided worlds: captivating showgirl in rhinestones and feathers hovering above the Vegas skyline like a prize bird caged for consumption versus the natural-faced woman strolling the Strip while contemplating life in denim at dusk.
Writer Kate Gersten provides a bite-size drama that feels more like the one-act play it was originally built for rather than a feature film. There’s little background regarding the characters, and some of the exposition is forced. Yet the concept works as the story emotionally delivers regardless of the nominal details.
Filmed in a mere 18 days, the mood is anything but rushed. The shots of Anderson against the backdrop of Vegas are beautiful and draw parallels between the character and the actress. This is the reintroduction of Pam Anderson, departed from the 90s bombshell image of her youth, reigning as an unmanufactured woman of intention and confidence.
“The Last Showgirl” delivers a bit of Vegas Showgirl culture, but Anderson’s performance is the real masterpiece, validating her as a capable lead actress whose star is far from fleeting.