Review: The Last Showgirl

Official Synopsis: A seasoned showgirl, Shelly (Pamela Anderson) must plan for her future when her show abruptly closes after a 30-year run.

Until the Golden Globe nominations were announced, The Last Showgirl wasn't even on my radar. Then seeing the praise Pamela Anderson was getting, on top of this being directed by another female Coppola (this time Gia, niece of Sofia) I immediately prioritized it, even though aside from the performances it was getting a lukewarm response.

I get it now. This might actually be the worst directed film I've seen all year. Gia clearly admires Sofia and loves herself a shot of her actresses starting off into the distance with a beautiful background behind them, but her choices here baffle me. I don't remember having issue with her direction in the last feature I saw of her's, Palo Alto. Every head on shot is blurry and she's constantly up in the faces of her actors. There is nary a tripod in sight. I kept wanting to scream "back up" at her. She's so close that sometimes you can see where they had to add ADR because the lips do not match what is coming out of their mouths.

Then there's the script. This IS a compelling story, and Shelly is a very selfish and troubled character, and there was so much opportunity to build around this. Especially with the relationships with her co-workers and her daughter, but it's completely half baked. Either Kate Gersten wrote a fully realized story and had half of it end up on the cutting room floor, or she wrote an outline and didn't fill it in with any development. It's so very disappointing.

The actors are the only thing elevating this. Pamela Anderson gives the best performance of her career. Jamie Lee Curtis is enjoying herself as her messy friend, and Kiernan Shipka and Brenda Song do as much as they can with their bare bones roles. Kiernan especially had room for a really interesting side story that the film chooses not to explore at all. Poor Billie Lourde is woefully miscast. 

This is probably the most frustrating movie I've seen all year, just because you can see the potential, but its director and writer are actively working against that. 

Grade: C (grading on a curve. Actors = A, Direction/Writing = F)