In the tradition of THE LAST STARFIGHTER, THE LAST WITCH HUNTER and THE LAST SAMURAI comes THE LAST SHOWGIRL (2024). This is a simple movie, and the kind of thing I probly wouldn’t have heard of if there hadn’t been talk about it being an awards contender and surprise comeback for a once hugely famous actress who pretty much never got any critical respect in her heyday. Pamela Anderson (BARB WIRE) is outstanding in the title role, and it has a meta quality to it since it’s about coming to terms with aging in an industry that mostly appreciated her as a sex object.
She plays Shelly, 57-year-old cast member of a long-running show on the Vegas Strip called Le Razzle Dazzle. She’s been in the show since the ‘80s and is kind of a friend/mother figure to some of her younger co-stars, Jodie (Kiernan Shipka, LONGLEGS, RED ONE) and Mary-Anne (Brenda Song, “Hostage Child,” BLADE). They also hang out with a grizzled former showgirl now working as a cocktail waitress at one of the casinos, Annette (Jamie Lee Curtis, BLUE STEEL). Both Shelly and Annette seem to be sort of delusionally hanging onto jobs they’ve aged out of, but they’re proud to be able to be the o.g.s offering advice to the new generation. (read the rest of this shit…)
