Pam Anderson shines in The Last Showgirl, Gia Coppola’s singular study of personal identity. Anderson plays Shelly, who has spent the past thirty years onstage in an old fashioned, Las Vegas showgirl revue, showcasing rhinestones, plumage and bare breasts. The show has enjoyed a 38-year run and is the last one in town; as tastes have moved on, the audience has diminished. As The Last Showgirl begins, the owners have decided to permanently close the show.
All the dancers in the company are unsettled by the need to find new employment, but it’s clear that Shelley, no matter how well-preserved at age 57, is not going to be competitive in the Las Vegas female dancer job market. But Shelley is even more jarred by the end of her job than one might think. After all, she should be able to make the same money in another job; her income from the show wasn’t enough to care for her now college-age daughter Hannah (Billie Lourd), who was fostered by family friends.
As Shelley flounders, we begin to understand that Shelley’s entire personal identity is invested in her stage persona. And we understand why she prioritized this job over even raising her own child. I feel so good about myself in the show…bathed in that light…I’M the one on the POSTER.
Shelley’s choice to get what she needs emotionally from the show, has left Hannah with a sense of emptiness, and Shelly now has that same emptiness about both her lost self-worth and the damage to the relationship with Hannah.
Pamela Anderson has not been known for her range as an actress, but she has enough to play Shelley with power and nuance. She is exceptional in this heartbreaking role. Anderson, whose body is still remarkable, has no vanity about the age on her face.
The rest of the cast is also outstanding. Kienran Shipka (Don Draper’s daughter in Mad Men) and Brenda Song play Shelley’s younger mentees in the troupe. Jamie Lee Curtis also eschews movie star glamor in playing Shelley’s former dance colleague, who has aged out of dancing and into cocktailing, and who suffers addictions to both alcohol and gambling; Curtis has one jaw dropping solo dance near the end of the film.
Jason Schwartzman is excellent as a guy casting live entertainment who resists being cruel, but finally must share the cruel truth with Shelley.
One of the best performances is that of Dave Bautista as the show’s stage manager. Bautista, the former pro wrestler who plays Drax in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise and Beast in the Dune movies, is usually cast in action fare. Here, he proves that he can really act in a character-driven drama. His gentle, decent, socially awkward character is often the moral center of the story.
Coppola ends the film with a superb montage. The Last Showgirl is a searing portrait of a completely original character; it’s one of the Best Movies of 2024.