Showgirls

Showgirls, released in 1995, is a notoriously bad movie, the kind of movie that becomes a cult classic because it so bad. I hadn't seen it before yesterday, and I'm hear to tell you that yes, it is that bad, but if you watch it in the right frame of mind, like with a bunch of witty friends and lots of alcohol or cannabis, you could have a good time.

What is the movie about? The short answer is tits. There are lots of tits on display, more than a Girls Gone Wild video. But the film is about as sexy as a ham sandwich, and includes one of the most laughably ludicrous sex scenes on celluloid. The longer answer is that it's All About Eve set in a Las Vegas topless revue, with a scheming stripper trying to make it to the top of the show business world, no matter who she steps on along the way.

Elizabeth Berkley stars as Nomi, who we meet hitching to Vegas. She gets her belongings stolen, but is taken in by a stranger who works as a costumier for Goddess, a big, kitschy topless revue at the Stardust. Berkley toils at the Cheetah, a strip joint, where she is nightly harassed by the oily manager (Robert Davi). The star of Goddess (Gina Gershon), is attracted to and intrigued by Berkley, as is the Stardust's entertainment director, Kyle MacLachlan. This is especially so after Berkley gives him an all-nude lap dance.

Berkley gets hired by Goddess and there's all sorts of backstabbing between the dancers. Berkley and Gershon lock horns. A dancer (Glenn Plummer) tries to romance Berkley and get her to perform in his show, but she spurns him for MacLachlan, and those two have sex in a pool, where Berkley appears to be having an epileptic fit.

The film, directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas, was a follow-up to their big hit Basic Instinct. It was a sensation at the time, especially when Berkley, known only for her role on a children's sit-com, was cast in the lead role. The result was a bomb of monumental proportions. It was rated NC-17, and remains one of the few so rated films to received wide release. The script is full of howlers, such as when Gershon, who manages to come through this unscathed says, "I love nice tits," or when Davi tells Berkley of her new job, "It must be nice not to have anyone come on you."

Berkley fares worst. You almost feel sorry for her, as the role is clearly beyond her talents. She's all attitude and bravado, without a shred of nuance. The result is a protagonist who is most unpleasant, and I kept rooting for her to get her comeuppance, which I don't think was intended. MacLachlan, with a ridiculous forelock of hair hanging over one eye, also comes off badly, and Alan Rachins chews scenery as the taskmaster show director.

The film did go on to be a big hit in home video, and today is sort of a midnight talk-back movie, like The Rocky Horror Picture Show. That is the only forum in which I would recommend it be seen.