Showgirls (1995)

 

Genre: Drama

Time: 2h 11mins

Director: Paul Verhoeven

Quick Summary: Nomi, a young carefree drifter, arrives in Las Vegas, Nevada to become a dancer and soon sets about clawing her way to the top of the Vegas showgirls.

I don't really know how to feel about this movie, I don't hate but, but I don't like it either.

The "sexy" scenes and erotica points of the film were done relatively well, they made their point. It is very loud, crass and overly colourful. But behind all that, there is actually a point. Exploitation and satisfaction.

It's satirical. Nobody gets to the point of satisfaction in life. Everyone wants more out of life. People will do anything and use any/all exploits they can to get there. This film revolves around one woman who is treated like an actual slab of meat, and she likes it because she believes it will get her somewhere. I thought this was clever, but I really did not like how this film showed that.

Everyone overacts. The main character is completely vacant and then bursts into screaming fits, throwing her body over absolutely everyone and at no point throughout the film does she change. Nothing changes her throughout this and that is mind-boggling. The script is dreadful too, It feels like some old man imaged how normal speak purely through conversations with strippers. The plot is fairly simple too, a basic rags to riches oversaturated with boobs and sex.

The dancing is honestly wild, everyone looks like they're having a seizure. Let alone everything else. Overall this feels very tacky and in bad taste to me.

 As bad as the first ninety minutes of this film are, the last thirty are worse. The final act of Showgirls is distasteful. I did not like the soundtrack at all, it felt out of place all the time. Everything is just so dramatic and the script is so corny and is constantly plagued with bad timing.

Though I did like the aesthetics and camerawork, which definitely had a polished feel to it, I think they focused more on how the film looked visually (I wonder why), than anything else. This tried to be clever but ultimately failed by choosing to shove erotic dances in front of your face.

5/10

" It must be weird, not having anybody cum on you."

"Honey, you could never handle me with all these wrinkles of fat. Why, you'd never find the thing. I'd have to piss on you to give you a clue."

"Goddess Dancer: You want a knuckle sandwich?

Felix: Oh, can I have mine anally, please?"