This film should be awesome and it just … isn’t quite.
The film follows Shelly (Pamela Anderson) who is a seasoned 57 year old showgirl who suddenly has to plan for her future when the show she’s been in for decades closes. Anderson is good but not the revelation you hope and she’s nowhere near as good as Jamie Lee Curtis who plays Shelly’s friend Annette who is a former showgirl herself.
This film runs just 87 minutes and whilst I’d usually rate that highly, it doesn’t work here. For example, Shelly’s complicated relationship with her daughter is touched on but not explored deeply enough and the ‘revelation’ of who the daughter’s father is, even less so.
I wanted to love this. Yay Pamela making a comeback! Yay women in their 50s being portrayed as beautiful showgirls! Yay Jamie Lee Curtis always! But it just doesn’t quite live up to what it could and should have been. Save this one for when it pops up on a streamer, if you’re really curious.
The Last Showgirl is rated M and is in cinemas now.