DVD Review: Showgirls (F)

Showgirls (1995)
Directed by Paul Verhoeven
Starring Elizabeth Berkley, Gina Gershon and Kyle McLaughlin
MPAA: NC-17
Grade: F

Review by Bobby Nashville

Winner of the Worst Film of The Decade award from the Razzies (the anti-Oscars), Showgirls is an absolute wonder to behold. Astonishing for all the wrong reasons, it is perhaps the funniest film I have ever seen. Unfortunately, I think the writer and director intended Showgirls to be a drama.

The story (if you can call it that) is about a young girl, Nomi Malone (Elizabeth Berkley), who hitchhikes to Vegas, where she tries to make it to the top of the showgirl business. She starts as a nude dancer in a strip club, then gets a gig as a chorus girl, and finally pushes her way (literally) to the top. Subtlety was never Joe Eszterhas' (Basic Instinct, Flashdance) strong suit, but judging from the Showgirls script, he had really lost his marbles at this point.

Some sample dialogue exchanges from Showgirls:

Cristal Connors: You've got nice tits. I like nice tits.
Nomi Malone: I like having nice tits.

I actually spit out my beer when I heard this weird comment from Gina Gershon: Cristal Connors: I've had dog food. Long time ago. Doggie Chow. I used to love Doggie Chow.

And best of all is this bizarre statement from the owner of the strip club that Nomi works:

Al Torres: It must be weird, not having anybody cum on you.

As you can tell, all sense of class, sanity, rationality, you name it, went right out the window with they made this debacle of a film.

There is a sequence early in Showgirls where the following things happen in under two minutes: Nomi gets her purse stolen; beats on somebody's car; gets into a fist fight with the car's owner; gets punched in the head; vomits all over the parking lot; hugs the cars owner; gets fast food; and finally throws French fries all over herself. Um, that seems normal. I see that happen all the time.

In the Mel Brooks classic The Producers, the duo of Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel set out (unbeknownst to the public) to create the worst play ever made. I can only hope that Showgirls was the Springtime For Hitler that Paul Verhoeven and Joe Eszterhas wanted to make all along. If not, in the words of my man Ricky Ricardo "You've got some splainin' to do!"

For lovers of bad movies, Showgirls is required viewing. Its just that good. I mean bad. Um... You know what I mean.

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