Las Vegas has been used as a backdrop to so many movies, mainly for the glitz and glamour. The Last Showgirl, from Gia Coppola, the granddaughter of legendary director Francis Ford Coppola, has taken a different approach. This is a film about the death of old Vegas, with the kind of cabaret show that is full of feathers, rinestones and women parading around the stage, seen from the eyes of a dancer who finds that the world she has lived in for so long is disappearing. While this film deals with several issues, it isn’t wholly successful, although it does outstanding performances and the reinvention of a legend from the past.

Shelley is an old-school dancer for a Vegas show she has participated in for over 30 years. Now the show is closing, replaced by a sleazy magic show, and she finds herself lost. Where will she go? She is alone, estranged from her daughter, Hannah, who resents her mother for leaving her to her own devices while she worked, and has a failed relationship with stage manager Bill, which she hopes could answer her future issues.

Coppola’s film has the grit of a fly-on-the-wall documentary, as we buzz around the show’s dressing room, entitled Le Razzle Dazzle, eavesdropping on conversations about the dancers’ futures. The quality of the film stock is grainy, and often, the sides are out of focus, giving a more realistic tone to the film. It is also crammed with subplots and deals with issues of modern life: Are the dancers who feel the show treats them respectfully and willing to lower their levels for a job? What will happen to a woman who has devoted her life to this one production and who isn’t as young as some of her co-workers? Will Shelley be able to reconnect with her daughter and make a life with Bill?

Having all these as part of a film that is shorter than 90 minutes seems a lot for it to carry, and this is the main problem. It has plenty to say, but it feels like it’s only touching the surface. It’s afraid to delve deeper into this world and how a woman of age can survive in an industry that can be forgiving if she stands at the back but will never push her front and centre anymore. It could have said much about age discrimination, but it just glanced at it.

The other subplots are touched upon but always feel underdeveloped. Shelley and Hannah’s relationship needs to be more emotionally involved, while Bill and the dancer’s relationship feels like an afterthought, even though an awkward dinner between the pair is one of the film’s high points. There are many scenes in which Shelley looks into the middle distance from rooftops or car parks, but they lead to nothing.

What does save the film from being just mundane are the performances. David Bautista is nicely underplayed as Bill, a gentle giant whose job is to make the show run smoothly while having a part relationship with Shelley and secretly wanting it to happen again. Jamie Lee Curtis, as Shelley’s friend and former dancer, Annette, now a cocktail waitress, is outstanding. She balances nicely a woman who has tried to make it after leaving the show but who is constantly dragged down by her gambling habit. A painful scene has her dancing in a casino that manages to show a woman desperate for past success and yet brimming with pain and disappointment.

At the heart of the film is Pamela Anderson’s Shelley. After years in the wilderness since her days in Baywatch and being a poster girl for the 90s, this comeback performance shows a side to her we’ve never seen before. It is a tour de force, a woman who has given everything to a show that is now rejecting her. It is wonderful to see a woman known for her past life diving head first in a brave and heartbreaking role, and she deserves the accolades she has received.

The Last Showgirl offers much but sadly fails to deliver. It is worth seeing for the fantastic performances from Curtis and especially Anderson, but you may be disappointed by a wafer-thin story that wants to give you more.

3 out of 5

Director: Gia Coppola

Starring: Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, David Bautista, Billie Lourd, Brenda Song, Kiernan Shipka, Jason Schwartzman, Linda Montana

Written by Kate Gersten

Running Time: 88 mins

Cert: 15

Release date: 28th February 2025