Showgirls (1995)

Showgirls (1995)

1995 NC-17 131 Minutes

Drama

A young drifter named Nomi arrives in Las Vegas to become a dancer and soon sets about clawing and pushing her way to become a top showgirl.

Overall Rating

7 / 10
Verdict: Good

User Review

  • On behalf of trash film fans everywhere I'd like to thank Elizabeth Berkley for providing one of cinema's truly awful performances. Her portrayal of naive, temperamental Las Vegas dancer Nomi Malone is a failure for the ages; an inept, one note disaster that never stops giving until closing credits roll.

    While Berkley's lack of talent passes into the sphere of so-bad-it's-legendary, the same cannot be said for the film. Showgirls is, to put it bluntly, revolting. A film depicting the sleazy world behind Las Vegas dancing shows would be a fine idea, but that's not what this is. This film is an absurd, unchecked fratboy fantasy that delights in continually degrading the women in its cast.

    Somebody behind Showgirls wants you to think that gratuitous nudity and unrelenting female debasement become acceptable when production values are high. Showgirls isn't subversive commentary, it's exploitative junk masquerading as female empowerment. A shameful tactic in service of a film that would have been better off collecting dust in the MGM archives.