Showgirls has been maligned as decadent, sexist, boring, and unintentionally comedic. That it was directed by Paul Verhoeven (yes, the same Paul Verhoeven that gave us Total Recall and Robocop!) is even more apalling. This is a lost opportunity. It certainly isn't a bad film. There are far worse films.
It just feels unnecessary and, incredibly, preachy about subjects that had already been treated in a much superior way by much better films including Felix the Cat and Kids. But the reptutation of this film's sheer nastiness and silliness is well earned. The major reason for finding the film difficult to swallow (no pun intended) is its sheer, unapologetic marketing. The film allegedly is meant to be taboo-shattering expose of Hollywood, pornography, and the Las Vegas culture of strip club dancing. But it's hard to understand who the producers are aiming the film at.
Elizabeth Berkley is fine as the unlikeable lead Nomi Malone (that's no typo - somehow "Nomi" is supposedly to be subverse??). But there's no motive or story behind her odyssessy. And who is naive enough not to know about the sexual abuses that occur behind the scenes of these strip clubs?? But is the film watchable? Barely. The dialogue drags on and on and the characers pile on one after another, all forgettable. For a film filled with unbelievably unsympathetic characters, it's amazing the script never manages to create a credible villain. And the nudity and erotic scenes are rather moderate. This is an overlong sexual tale about starlets seeking fame .... blah, blah, blah, blah. Interesting as a time capsule of the 1990s but not much else. Definitely not a camp classic.
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