TIFF 2024: The Last Showgirl Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.

A personal favorite genre is one that sees an older star is given the opportunity to stage a comeback of sorts. Oftentimes on a small scale, said star is paired with a director who is giving the star the chance to not only reinvent themselves, but to try something new and put themselves out there in a vulnerable way. Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl provides Pamela Anderson this very opportunity. 

Set in Las Vegas, The Last Showgirl follows the final two weeks before the closing of the last remaining traditional floor show. Shelley (Anderson) is a legend and longtime entertainer, and despite working at an establishment whose declining reputation of being just a sleazy nudy night show in Vegas, she believes in it and what it stands for. What makes it incredibly hard is that most of Shelley’s coworkers are young and can reinvent themselves elsewhere. However, for her, it just pushes her further into a corner that she feels she cannot escape from. Anderson is fantastic here. The first time audiences have seen her in this light, she takes Shelley and absolutely embodies her in every way. There is a frantic nervousness to her where she always seems ready to explode, and it comes across strongly through Andersons kinetic performance. There are moments when Shelley is searching for that meaning within herself where one can just see it in her eyes. She absolutely knocks it out of the park. 

Coppola’s style and direction is that of a meandering nature that is more so vibes over anything else. While this can make the film feel thin at times, there’s no issue with wanting to make a film like this when truly committing to it. There are attempts to weave in subplots which aim to serve Shelly’s greater story, but they don’t quite pack the same punch. Billie Lourd plays Shelley’s semi-estranged daughter, Hannah. This is a role that was mostly wasted. In contrast, Shelley’s coworkers, Marianne (Brenda Song) and Jodie (Kiernan Shipka), both have a strange work mom-daughter relationship with Shelley. Working much better, Shipka is a standout in a role that deserved more love from the camera. Meanwhile, Bautista (Eddie) and Curtis (Annette) play key characters in Shelley’s life, and both do quite a good job with what they’re given. Ultimately, the film is at its best when it commits to what it wants to be, a snapshot of Shelley’s life during this tumultuous two week span. It struggles when it meanders in the middle, unsure of whether to go for the melodrama or not. 

That being said, Anderson is a surefire Oscar contender with her work here, and her Shelley is a standout amidst the nihilistic backdrop of a Las Vegas that has left her behind. As a vehicle for Anderson, it works and works well. Otherwise, The Last Showgirl offers an intriguing look at the life of showgirls and Vegas entertainers, racing against time and trying to cling onto a world that is passing them by.

*still courtesy of TIFF*

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Brennan Dubé

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