150 Word Review: 'The Last Showgirl' (2024)
Le Razzle Dazzle!
I watched Baywatch, the '90s lifeguard TV drama starring hunky David Hasselhoff and blonde bombshell Pamela Anderson. The show was pure cheesecake. I also remember Anderson's stolen and leaked sex tape with her then-husband, rocker Tommy Lee, a gross invasion of privacy and a tabloid sensation.
But her fame and infamy are instantly forgotten once she's on screen in director Gia Coppola's The Last Showgirl, a tender look at losers hustling in Las Vegas, the capital of dashed hopes. Anderson is vulnerable and frustrating as Shelly, who's been wearing rhinestones and showing off her ta-tas for decades, one of dozens of wannabe Gwen Verdon's strutting their stuff in “a spectacle with dancing nudes." Shelly was a bad mom, but at least she was a lousy dancer. Jamie Lee Curtis co-stars as her bestie, a self-destructing cocktail waitress. Coppola doesn't rip your heart out, even though Anderson is ready and willing.