Movie Review: Showgirls (1995)

Genre: Erotic Drama  

Director: Paul Verhoeven  

Starring: Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan, Gina Gershon, Robert Davi 
Running Time: 131 minutes  

Synopsis: Ambitious Nomi Malone (Elizabeth Berkley) hitchhikes into Las Vegas seeking a dancing career. She befriends seamstress Molly (Gina Ravera) and bouncer/dancer James (Glenn Plummer), but only lands a job at the strip club operated by the exploitive Al (Robert Davi). Nomi's fortunes change when she meets Cristal Connors (Gina Gershon), the star of the glitzy topless show at the Stardust casino. Nomi entrances Cristal's boyfriend Zack (Kyle MacLachlen) with a frenzied lap dance, and after landing a spot as a chorus girl on the show, sets her sights higher. 

What Works Well: This hypnotic train-wreck view of backstage shenanigans matches Vegas itself for extremes of crass in-your-face scuzziness. The Joe Eszterhas script is soaked in the sewage stink of sex-obsessed characters carrying the worst combination of ambition and desperation. Breathless pacing energizes the neon, glamour, and swank, while the town's back-alleys host a net-zero game of winners stepping on losers to achieve a pathetic illusion of success.

What Does Not Work As Well: Elizabeth Berkley stumbles in attempting a huge step from television's Saved By The Bell to carrying a major movie production. She receives little help from Eszterhas' cringey dialogue and director Paul Verhoeven, who is on the prowl for the next lurid shot. The excessive nudity is mind numbing, the sex scenes resemble animalistic coupling, and the choreography replaces dancing with aggressive versions of angular foreplay.

Key Quote:

Cristal: There's always someone younger and hungrier coming down the stairs after you.

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