3 Short Paragraphs (Or Not): The Last Showgirl

2024, Gia Coppola (Mainstream) -- download

Repeat. I will not create a That Guy tag.

Yeah, this was definitely a "That Guy" movie, a small indie flick, a slice from someone's life, about the choices people make with their lives. It was unpolished, made no big swings and had a modicum of recognizable Hollywood faces. And yet, in what it was, what it worked with, it was more than successful and satisfying.

Once again I am thinking about why I continue to write in this blog. Sure, there is the compulsion to write and that is worth indulging, if but for myself, but there is that loud shouting voice about audience. Even as I write that sentence I know there are likely less than a half dozen people who will read this post, and likely I know them all personally. They read it because its there. But if I am only partially invested, why should they be? You. Whatever.

And likely check out now. No judgement, but its a bit of a broken record.

There is also the fear of letting something end. We have been writing this blog for just over 14 years. We started it with lofty ideals, inspired by proper movie reviewers like Roger Ebert, believing we had a voice, an opinion and a modicum of at least legible writing talent to back it up. I will say that Kent continued his development of that ideal as he listens to and draws upon a number of movie related podcasts. They give him inspiration and topical subjects upon which to build his own proper critical writing. Meanwhile, I have not enjoyed reading movie critic reviews for over a decade, as I find most are just stringing words together without any heart. They write to fill a slot on a page.  As for the podcasts, I end up shouting wordlessly back at them, more often than not annoyed by the personalities. I have not had the desire to improve upon what I do here and yet, here I still am. 

But why? Its not like I am even viewing with lofty ideals anymore. I continue to consume a lot but is it worth consuming? And beyond a bare minimum, do I even let what I consume influence or educate or inspire me? Do I even have a passion for watching movies anymore because, so often, when asked about the latest objectively great movie, my answer is more often than not, "I haven't seen that yet." And yet I downloaded Statham's latest actioner.

Its a David Ayer movie, and I am watching it as these words were written.

Yet, I can tie all that anxiety into the watching of this movie. Why this movie? Why a small, low-budget, indie movie about a showgirl in Las Vegas, starring an actor more often mocked for her roles than anything. Sure, the primary reason was my fondness was the imagery of Vegas, born of my few trips there to spend time with friends I have barely seen in the last 25 years. Those trips are outside my staid, isolationist norms, and therefore, given me an odd connection to that seedy false city. There were also a few kind reviews I heard/read about this movie which generated a mild bit of interest. Can she act, given the role?

I would say yes. Its a ... bitter-sweet movie that doesn't try to make a hero of the main character, more just tries to establish a level of sympathy. Shelly (Pamela Anderson, Barb Wire) is a 50+ showgirl at the last showgirl show in Vegas, "Le Razzle Dazzle". There are rarely more than a dozen people in the audience. Her fellow showgirls are a mix of young dancers come to Vegas seeking fame, and others just making a buck. There is a certain statement of them all taking the only job they could take, outside of being strippers in a city known to eat up thousands of such. The show is tenaciously adhering to its original act, something that hasn't been popular for thirty years. That is, until its cancelled. Its going to be replaced with something arguably more delusional -- Cirque de Soleil meets Lewd Sex Acts. Shelly has no desire to be part of it, not that any producer would have a woman of her age. The only life she has known is coming to an end.

And that's it, that's what the movie is about. Its about those last few weeks, about how she handles it, about the other people in her life, and its about the choices she made that led her to where she is. It is not a glamorous movie in the least. There is Shelly's estranged daughter Hannah (Billie Lourd, Booksmart) who she is desperate to reconnect with, but on her own terms only -- she won't acknowledge that she sacrificed her daughter's formative years for her own (lackluster) dreams. Hannah is at a crossroads in her own life and comes to see her mother to see if choosing the path of self-fulfillment is worth it. Neither her nor Shelly like the answer. There are Mary-Anne (Brenda Song, The Social Network) and Jodie (Kiernan Shipka, Carriers), fellow dancers who see Shelly as a mother-figure, looking for support, but Shelly cannot see beyond her own crushed dreams & hopes. There is ex-showgirl and close friend Annette (Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once) who now waitresses at a casino, in skimpy outfits, for ass-grabs and tips -- her life is likely all Shelly has to look forward to, and its utterly depressing. Again, there is no glamour here. And Eddie (Dave Bautista, Riddick), a stage producer who will just move on from "Le Razzle Dazzle" to the next show; his unrequited crush on Shelly will take him nowhere, even if her friends see him as a lifeline for the last showgirl, which is a depressing statement unto itself.

And yet, these are real people, and the movie handles everything with a sympathetic, maybe sad, observative mood. We are not meant to dislike these people for their choices, just understand that they made the choices they did, and that doesn't make them bad people. Hell knows pop-culture has been telling people to chase their dreams for as long as I have been alive, and well... sometimes that just doesn't pay out. Doing something just because you like it doesn't mean it will reap rewards - monetarily or spiritually.

Honestly, this movie is why, when I was That Guy, I watched movies. Stories, people, emotions. And I think its why people who make movies, even those that never really find acclaim or money, do them. I mean, yes, half the shit I watch was done just to generate a buck, but this is why they should be made. Its a Gia Coppola movie, she who is granddaughter of Francis Ford, and niece of Sofia, a family of film makers. That Guy would have been fascinated by that, would have followed her career, her pursuit of a passion, her making her mark on her family's legacy. Me, I just bumped into it.

And yes, the ties between possibly giving up on something I initially felt passionate about but didn't generate any great ... anything... is not lost on me. But like Shelly, I am pretty sure I will just keep on doing what I do not for any good reason, but... just because.