Just a quick note on Gia Coppola’s “The Last Showgirl,” which just screened at TIFF. Don’t listen to some of the more positive takes on the film. Its star, Pamela Anderson, has proven just how limited her acting range truly is.
The film stars Anderson, in what has clearly been set up as her Oscar-vehicle, a redemption story that recalls “The Whale” and “The Wrestler.” Anderson plays Shelly, a seasoned showgirl who must plan for her future when her 30-year show abruptly closes in Vegas.
As a dancer in her fifties, Shelly struggles with what to do next. As a mother, she strives to repair a strained relationship with her daughter, who often took a backseat to her showgirl family. Shelly believes that, with her Vegas career winding down, she has one last chance to reconnect with her child.
“The Last Showgirl” also stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Bautista, Brenda Song, Kiernan Shipka, and Billie Lourd. Curtis plays it way over the top, with orange dyed hair, as Shelly’s best friend, Annette, a cocktail waitress being set aside by her bosses for younger staffers. Bautista is best in show as Shelly’s caring boss, Eddie.
Coppola hasn’t really banked on the promise of her 2013 debut “Palo Alto.” “The Last Showgirl” might very well be her worst film. Coppola’s previous effort, “Mainstream,” was part of the pandemic-afflicted 2020 edition of Venice, but ‘Showgirl’ world premiered at TIFF, skipping both the Lido and Telluride, usually a bad sign.
The film was shot in 18 days, and it shows just how rushed the entire thing is, including Anderson’s twitchy performance. In her B+ review of the “The Last Showgirl,” IndieWire’s Kate Erbland calls Anderson’s performance a “major, major contender” for awards consideration. This baffles me.
It doesn’t help that Kate Gersten’s script is filled with cliches. Much like in Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler,” which had a very similar blueprint, but was a far better film, Shelly has an estranged daughter, Hannah (Lourd), who she longs to reconnect with, despite Hannah’s clear hesitancies. This is a token emotional character study about a downtrodden and psychologically beat-up person who yearns for redemption.
Anderson, 56, is known for her lead turn in the kitschy early ‘90s series “Baywatch,” she’s rarely been given a meaty dramatic role like this one, and she fails the test. I’m not saying she’s terrible in “The Last Showgirl,” but she sure as hell isn’t good. Anderson tries way too hard, there’s no subtlety in her delivery.