|
Showgirls 2.5 out of 10
Running time: 2:11 MPAA rating: NC-17 (Nudity and erotic sexuality throughout, and for some graphic language and sexual violence.) Peruvian rating: Apta para Nadie
Cast:
Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan,
Glenn Plummer, Gina Gershon, Robert Davi, Gina Raveri.
|
 |
The NC-17 rating was first introduced in 1990 by the MPAA for use in non-porn films that have too strong sexuality, too strong violence or too strong language. The majority of films which have garnered this rating have been complete box-office failures, and normally when a movie earns it, its producers or directors try to cut any potentially-offensive scenes or pieces of dialogue to at least earn an R rated. Yes, the NC-17 seems to be somehow "cursed", and virtually no-one tries to release a film with this rating. Despite all these problems, Paul Verhoeven and Joe Eszterhas (of Basic Instinct fame) tried in 1995 to release a movie with this rating, starring Elizabeth Berkley (of Saved by the Bell fame) and a couple of unknowns. Yes, it was a pretty brave move, but the thing is, Showgirls is one of the worst motion pictures I've ever seen. Yes, I'm 17 and I've seen the film, (when I was 16, though) and I came to the conclusion that the movie is not even useful as masturbatory material. It's bad porn, bad drama, bad comedy and bad acting all mixed together to make something that resembles a film, but that ultimately won't appeal anyone with half a brain.
Showgirls tells the "story" of Nomi Malone (Berkley), a dancer on her way to Las Vegas, who's hoping to join a chorus line. But even before she gets her first job, she learns that the only way she's gonna gain anything in town is through sex and drugs and, even though she's a "tough" woman with a smoking hot body and a crappy past, she knows what has to be done to make headway. So she has the bright idea of working as a lap dancer at a strip club, but has her sights set higher. And when the big-name star of a local show (Gina Gershon) and a hotel talent director (Kyle MacLachlan) take an interest in her "abilities", things start to look better.
Elizabeth Berkley is the film's protagonist, and it's pretty obvious why she was chosen to star in the movie: she has a pretty good-looking body, but her acting abilities are extremely limited, and it's pretty difficult to buy her as a "tough" woman trying to make a living through lap-dancing. Yes, she shows everything - and I mean everything - but the movie lacks anything resembling eroticism, and even though there's plenty of nudity and sexuality all over the course of the film, I don't think many people will use it to get aroused. The fact that the movie fails even to fulfill a really easy and low-level aim such as serving as pornography should tell audiences something about its overall quality. People might feel curious about seeing the film because of it's rating - yeah, that's the only reason I watched in the first place, I guess - but I find it difficult to imagine anyone enjoying it.
Showgirls has absolutely nothing to redeem it, even though, given the director's previous credits, I'm pretty sure Verhoeven is a pretty talented guy. The movie is grim and depressing, the performances are awful, the story is predictable and uninteresting, and the screenplay is poorly-written and laughable. Additionally, the film tries to make use of different things which aren't normally allowed in films: apart from the tons of nudity and sexuality, there's also gratuitous violence and graphic language, and all of this makes the movie even more unwatchable and unbearable.
It's almost impossible to recommend Showgirls, unless you want to watch every film director Verhoeven has made, or you feel curious about the rating. Yes, the film is unwatchable, but it's not the worst movie I've ever seen. It's the worst "erotic" film in existence, though, and I'm pretty sure it's impossible for anyone to find any enjoyment in this gratuitous piece of crap. Showgirls is a hollow, boring, mechanical, badly-acted, badly-shot, poorly-written, stupid and ultimately distasteful motion picture. I'm pretty sure good NC-17-rated films are possible (Ang Lee's Lust, Caution is a perfect example) but Showgirls is definitely not one of them.
©2007 Sebastián Zavala - GG site