“Places please. Places please. This is your places call… for the final performance of the Razzle Dazzle.”

Shelly (Pamela Anderson), a fifties-year-old cabaret dancer, must reevaluate her future when her show abruptly closes after a 30-year run. 

With The Last Showgirl, Gia Coppola delivers a touching film about the challenges of reinventing oneself when you’ve done only one thing your whole life. It’s a film about fading stars, featuring a grand comeback from a former icon.

Pamela’s Return

The plot of The Last Showgirl begins when the dancers of the cabaret show The Razzle Dazzle learn that their show, the last of its kind, will be closing its doors in two weeks. The news is a hard blow for Shelly, who joined the show in the 1980s and considers what she does a true art form. For over 30 years, Shelly has known the thrill of being on stage and the warmth of a backstage family that includes the veteran showgirl Annette (Jamie Lee Curtis) and newcomers like Mary-Anne (Brenda Song) and Jodie (Kiernan Shipka). Now at a crossroads, Shelly clings to hope as she prepares to seek new dance work while trying to forge closer ties with Hannah, the daughter she barely knows.

The choice of Pamela Anderson for this role is simply perfect. The Canadian also had an explosive career when she was young, in the world of glamour. Then, like her character, as she got older, she found herself pushed to the sidelines with no real chance to continue. And she, too, was judged for working in the glamorous world, finding herself in a kind of professional no-man’s land.

While casting, Coppola was struck by this thoughtful, optimistic, and disarmingly candid woman who had so often been portrayed in caricature. “I saw that Pamela was very brave. She was already pushing the boundaries of how women should age and be, which was exciting. I could see that she wanted to express herself as an actress and was willing to be vulnerable. She’s a beautiful writer and a lover of classic cinema, poetry, and philosophy. She also has this optimistic nature that I think is very similar to Shelly.”

And the choice paid off, as the actress proves to be excellent in this role. She has also earned a Golden Globe nomination. In addition to being excellent, the fact that we haven’t seen her in a while makes her character even more anonymous in a world where fame exists in the shadow of the real world and quickly fades.

Social Realism

The Last Showgirl shows us a side of Vegas rarely explored in films, depicting the hard work, enduring camaraderie, and daily realities of the people who make Vegas shine with the magic of Neverland. But it also shows us the harshness of life for its female workers. Vegas is a strange place where nothing would exist without its beautiful women. And yet, no consideration is given to these workers who are quickly discarded to be replaced by younger merchandise.

At the heart of the story, it is precisely the place and the challenges of these women that are told. Shelly didn’t want to give up her dreams, and therefore her life as a dancer, and quickly realized that the financial constraints of a single-parent family were not in her favor. She therefore made the difficult choice to leave Hannah, her daughter, with her best friend’s family who, as an adult, approaches her mother with caution and reserve.

In a way, as a spectator, you want to judge this woman who abandoned her daughter. But at the same time, you are stuck in your judgment, because it seems impossible for a woman of her background to be able to fulfill herself professionally and at the same time raise a child alone.

The director explains this about the reality of Nevada: “There’s no real infrastructure in our society for a woman to really do both, because everything was predicated on mothers staying at home and taking care of the children. So I was really fascinated by the question, is Shelly selfish? Is she not selfish? It’s always just a conversation starter because you have to be selfish sometimes. That’s the unfortunate truth. I was able to have compassion for both Shelly and Hannah.”

In contrast, Shelly finds herself living a kind of mother-daughter relationship with the young dancers in the troupe. A kind of compensation, probably. One could see it as a survival mechanism to compensate for the pain of having abandoned her own daughter. Thus, the ease she feels with the other dancers contrasts with the awkwardness that exists between her and Hannah.

A Little More…

One of the most striking moments in the film comes, however, from the strong presence of Jamie Lee Curtis, who represents those women who do not apologize for living their lives as they see fit, but who, as a result, because she lives in a society that reproaches women for not fitting into the mold, finds herself living all sorts of difficulties. But the character of Annette finds herself dancing on a podium, in a great moment of fragility. This scene, almost improvised, turns out to be one of the highlights of the film.

Curtis recounts: “After that, Gia said to me, ‘We should put you on one of those podiums.’ I laughed and said, ‘I don’t think so.’ And as we were walking, ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ came on the sound system. I said to Gia, ‘You know, if Annette was a drinker, that would be her song.’ I never thought about it again. Then two days later, Gia said to me, ‘By the way, you’re dancing today.’ We shot the scene 10 minutes later, without rehearsals.”

The result is a powerful moment in contemporary cinema. Moreover, the music, although not so present, has a marked importance. And the soundtrack is just right, from beginning to end. The film closes with the sublime piece Beautiful that way by Miley Cyrus. Another woman who has often been underestimated because she is beautiful.

The Last Showgirl, Coppola’s third film (Palo Alto), is a nuanced portrait of a group of multi-generational women facing an uncertain future when their long-running revue comes to an end. In a revelatory role, Pamela Anderson captures the vulnerability, tenacity, pride, and courage of a woman who has made difficult choices to pursue her dreams, but who continues to resolutely move forward in the face of a transactional culture that must adapt to the societal prejudices of ageism and a basic income stream.

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