Showgirls (1995) - Verhoeven's outrageous, ridiculous, hilarious Hollywood anomaly

♥♥♥♥

 

A nubile, long-legged blond figure adorns this dark poster for Paul Verhoeven's Showgirls

Nomi arrives in Las Vegas without her suitcase but with her head full of dreams. And luckily she soon befriends Molly, a seamstress who introduces her to the town's adult dance scene.

 

Showgirls is written by Joe Eszterhas (Flashdance (1983)) and directed by Dutch master filmmaker Paul Verhoeven (Wat Zien Ik (1971)), whose 11th feature it is. 

It is an anomaly in Hollywood history: The first and only wide release NC-17 rated movie, Showgirls is likely the big studio pic with most bare breasts, a giant budget and no major stars. It is a lustful, young-boyishly-enthused, strange work that could only come from Verhoeven.

Elizabeth Berkley (Meet Market (2004)) is wild and electric as Nomi, (and writhes almost convulsively in her sex scenes), but in the context of the fever dream-like film her ridiculed performance actually could hardly have been better. Gina Gershon (P.S. I Love You (2007)) camps it up as the show's star Cristal. Robert Davi (The Hot Chick (2002)) is ideal as a creep, and Kyle MacLachlan (Free Jimmy (2006)) is funny (and shows off his great ass) as a rich playboy.

The melodrama gets another gear here. The photography (by Jost Vacano (Supermarket (1974))) and execution is highly competent and vivid, and the result is an outrageous, ridiculous, hilarious bucket of juicy, rich entertainment, a good/bad reflection on the American performance culture. The dance acts are phenomenal, and once the news sensation of the nudity evaporates, Showgirls still has more and more laughable developments to offer. It may be exploitation, (as Quentin Tarantino has called it), but in any case Showgirls is delivered with a major twinkle in the eye. 

Related posts:

Paul Verhoeven: Hollow Man (2000) - Superb effects in Verhoeven's miss 

Top 10: Best cop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  
Basic Instinct (1992) or, Irresistable Desire!  

Top 10: Best erotic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

The Fourth Man/De Vierde Man (1983) - Verhoeven's amazing Dutch sex thriller nightmare

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 45 mil. $

Box office: 37.7 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.83 times its cost)

[Showgirls premiered 21 September (California) and runs 131 minutes. Eszterhas became the highest-paid screenwriter in movie history for Showgirls: He was reportedly given a 2 mil. $ advance based on an idea scribbled on a napkin at a meeting with Verhoeven, and then another 1.7 mil. $ once the film began production. Verhoeven was paid 2 mil. $ for directing; and Berkley was paid 100k $ for her performance in the film. Shooting took place from August - December 1994 in Los Angeles, California and in Nevada, including in Las Vegas. Distributor United Artists reportedly dispatched hundreds of employees to cinemas in the US to make sure no patrons snuck into showings and that the 17 age requirement was upheld. The film opened #2, behind fellow new release Seven, to an 8.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another weekend in the top 5 (#5) and grossed 20.3 mil. $ (53.8 % of the total gross). The film was banned in Ireland for blasphemy. Berkley was dropped by her agent following the film's release and was ignored by other agents. Although theatrically a huge flop, the film since became a cult favorite, accruing a reported 100 mil. $ through its video release. Roger Ebert gave it a 2/4 star review, translating to 2 notches under this one. Verhoeven returned with Starship Troopers (1997). Berkley returned in White Wolves II: Legend of the Wild (1996). Showgirls is rotten at 23 % with a 3.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Showgirls?

Shame (2011) or, That Empty Sex

♥♥♥♥

1 Time Film Excess Nominee:

Best Supporting Actress: Carrey Mulligan (lost to Agnieszka Grochowska for In Darkness)

A neat poster for Steve McQueen's Shame

QUICK REVIEW:

In Shame we follow a man living in New York, who is obsessed with sex. His sister shows up and lives at his place for a period, very much against his will, while she has an affair with his boss.

Shame is an intense film with long, uninterrupted takes, co-written by Abi Morgan (The Invisible Woman (2013)) and British director Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave (2013)). Due to the sexual tensions in the sex addiction-themed story, it has an attraction that McQueen's only previous feature, the dismal Hunger (2008) didn't have.
It is well-acted by especially a luminous Carey Mulligan (An Education (2009)), who gives what must be the saddest rendition of New York, New York ever put to film in one scene, and James Badge Dale (The Departed (2006)). Michael Fassbender (X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)) plays the self-destructive, unsympathetic lead, a character who, however, never attains much interest on my part.
The film's title, - Shame - doesn't seem to have any great relevance to what we see in the film. - Who feels shame? (No-one.) The lack of any back stories for the two main characters, besides an implication that they might both have ben subjected to sexual abuse as kids, also adds to the vibe that the film creates, which is that people with big sexual appetites are simply miserable. Film critic Donald Clarke of The Irish Times has, very incisively and apropos, called Shame's Puritanism "more than a little oppressive." It sure is. While the film is well-made and uncompromisingly downbeat, I also continue to find its style a bit auteur-pompous, and it will likely never become a favorite with me.

Related posts:

Steve McQueen: 12 Years a Slave (2013) - The inhumanity of slavery portrayed forcefully in awesome film
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]  

Carey Mulligan is amazing in Steve McQueen's Shame

Watch the trailer here

Cost: 4.2 mil. £
Box office: 11.1 mil. £
= Box office success
[Shame got an NC-17 rating in the US, which was accepted, even welcomed (perhaps mostly as a challenge) by its distributor there, Fox Searchlight Pictures, who paid 400k $ for the distribution rights. It made 4 mil. $ (36 % of the total gross) in the US. The film won many awards and nominations and made it onto many top 10 lists of the year, including the #2 spot on Roger Ebert's.]

What do you think of Shame?