Plot
A young drifter, named Nomi, arrives in Las Vegas to become a dancer and soon sets about clawing and pushing her way to become the top of the Vegas showgirls.
Release Year: 1995
Rating: 4.2/10 (31,788 voted)
Critic's Score: 16/100
Director:
Paul Verhoeven
Stars: Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan, Gina Gershon
Storyline Nomi Malone, a mysterious young girl with the ambition to dance embarks on a journey to Las Vegas to become a showgirl in a high-class hotel show. There she meets Molly, a seamstress at the Stardust Hotel and the two quickly become good friends. She gets a job as a lap dancer at the seedy Cheetah Club but after a chance meeting with Cristal Connors, the star of Goddess, the current show at the hotel where Molly works, Nomi manages to secure an audition for a spot on the chorus line.However she soon realises that fame comes with a price as her friendships, her morals and her soul are put to the test as she works her way up the ladder and eventually becomes the star of the show, stealing Cristal's part. She begins to wonder if all of her work was for nothing and if she can reclaim her life back before it is too late.
Cast: Elizabeth Berkley
-
Nomi Malone
Kyle MacLachlan
-
Zack Carey
Gina Gershon
-
Cristal Connors
Glenn Plummer
-
James Smith
Robert Davi
-
Al Torres
Alan Rachins
-
Tony Moss
Gina Ravera
-
Molly Abrams
Lin Tucci
-
Henrietta 'Mama' Bazoom
Greg Travis
-
Phil Newkirk
Al Ruscio
-
Mr. Karlman
Patrick Bristow
-
Marty Jacobsen
William Shockley
-
Andrew Carver
Michelle Johnston
-
Gay Carpenter
Dewey Weber
-
Jeff
Rena Riffel
-
Penny
/
Hope
Taglines:
The girls are back in town! (re-release)
Opening Weekend: $8,112,627
(USA)
(24 September 1995)
(1 Screen)
Gross: $37,702,961
(Worldwide)
Technical Specs
Runtime:|
USA:
(NC-17 version)
Did You Know?
Trivia:
This film is listed among the Top Ten Best Bad Films ever made in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book THE OFFICIAL RAZZIE MOVIE GUIDE.
Goofs:
Crew or equipment visible:
When Nomi is playing the slots at the beginning of the film, the camera is reflected in one of the machines.
Quotes:
[first lines]
Jeff:
Hop in, pard! Nomi Malone:
Where are you going? Jeff:
Vegas! Come on! This is your lucky day!
User Review
A Misunderstood Classic
Rating: 10/10
Calling Showgirls "poorly acted" or "sexist" completely misses
the
point; it's like accusing Britney Spears of not being a "real
musician,"
as though you've discovered something.
Of *course* Showgirls is exploitative and demeaning to women.
Almost
all Hollywood movies are demeaning to women. Almost all of them
are
male-written, male-directed male fantasies. But most of them cover
this
fact with a thin veneer of "empowerment" and "sensitivity,"
making
perfunctory, surface concessions to political correctness.
It's
hypocritical, dishonest and has horrible long-term effects on
the
psyches of young impressionable girls (and boys). The brilliance
of
Showgirls is that it gathers all of the worst Hollywood masculine
excess
and throws it unapologetically in our faces. The movie
is
straight-from-the-id, primal, brutish male fantasy. Every woman in
the
movie is a laughable caricature who advances, if at all, by
deceiving
other women and becoming a sexual object for men. The "heroine,"
Nomi,
crosses every line, sells every shred of dignity, physically
assaults
her female competitors, sleeps with her boss (in the most
over-the-top
sex scene in cinematic history), gets her best friend raped... and
at
the end of the film, claims that she has gambled and won
"herself."
This tragi-comic nod to empowerment is a slap to the face of
anyone
who's been paying attention.
Whether Esterhauz and Verhoeven intended it as such, Showgirls is
at
once a camp classic and a sly satire, an example of everything
our
culture at once wallows in and disavows. Sure, you can react
with
righteous indignation, waggle your finger at the movie, and pat
yourself
on the back for being so enlightened. But maybe you should take a
look
around, at the billboards, the commercials, the sitcoms, the movies,
the
music videos, your own prejudices... and think about whether you
can't
find a better target.
0