Showgirls
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Paul Verhoeven
Produced by	Lynn Ehrensperger Robert Evans Mario Kassar Alan Marshall
Written by	Joe Eszterhas
Starring	Elizabeth Berkley Kyle MacLachlan Gina Gershon Gina Ravera Alan Rachins
Music by	Rena Riffel David A. Stewart
Cinematography	Jost Vacano
Editing by	Mark Goldblatt Mark Helfrich
Distributed by	-USA- MGM Distribution Co. United Artists -UK- Guild Film Distribution
Release date(s)	September 22, 1995 (USA)
Running time	Theatrical cut: 131 min R-rated version: 128 min
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$45,000,000 (estimated)
Gross revenue	$20,350,754

Showgirls is a 1995 film directed by Paul Verhoeven. It stars former teen actress Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan and Gina Gershon. The film centres on a drifter who ventures to Las Vegas and climbs the seedy hierarchy from stripper to showgirl.

Significant controversy and hype surrounding the film's gratuitous amounts of sex and nudity preceded its release. In the United States, the movie was rated NC-17 for "nudity and erotic sexuality throughout, some graphic language and sexual violence." Showgirls was the first and only NC-17 rated film to be given a wide release in mainstream theaters.^[1] United Artists dispatched several hundred staffers to theatres across the United States playing Showgirls in order to assure that patrons would not be sneaking into the film from other films, or that anyone going to see it was under 17 years of age.

Though the movie did not do well in theaters, Showgirls enjoyed success on the home video market, generating more than $100 million from video rentals ^[2] and became one of MGM's top 20 all-time bestsellers.^[3] For its video premiere, Verhoeven prepared an R-rated cut for rental outlets that would not carry NC-17 films. This edited version runs 128 minutes and deletes some of the more graphic footage, in particular the infamous lap dance sequence. Showgirls has since become regarded as a cult classic.^[4]

[edit] Plot

Nomi Malone (Elizabeth Berkley) is a hot young drifter who hitchhikes to Las Vegas hoping to make it as a showgirl. After being stranded with no money or spare clothing by the person who picked her up, Nomi meets Molly Abrams (Gina Ravera), a seamstress and costume designer who takes her in as a roommate. After becoming fast friends, Molly invites Nomi backstage at her job at Goddess, the Stardust Casino show where she works. While Molly is working, she invites Nomi to watch the show from the theater. Nomi is struck by being so close to her dream and picks up the moves quickly. After the show is over, Molly is summoned to the star Cristal Connors' (Gina Gershon) room to fix a top for her and brings Nomi along. When Molly mentions to that Nomi is a dancer as well, this piques Cristal's interest and she asks where she dances at. Nomi responds it's at Cheetah's Topless Club and Cristal derisively tells her that what she does is akin to prostitution. This makes Nomi furious and she storms out. Cristal mentions to Molly that she liked Nomi's elaborate nails and Molly informs her that she does them herself. After Cristal remarks that she may want hers done by Nomi, Molly runs out to admonish her for putting her job in jeopardy.

Since Cristal's remarks upset her, Nomi is too upset to go to work that night. Molly knows how to cheer her friend up and takes her dancing at The Crave Club. While dancing furiously, Nomi is noticed by 2 employees of the club, one of which is James Smith (Glenn Plummer). James approaches Nomi to dance and when he criticizes her dancing, she kicks him in the groin. James falls into the crowd, starting a brawl on the dance floor with several male patrons. After Nomi is arrested for causing the melee, James bails her out of jail, but she still refuses to even have coffee with him.

Shortly thereafter, Cristal and her boyfriend Zack Carey (Kyle MacLachlan), the entertainment director at the Stardust, visit Cheetah's. While dancing on stage, Nomi (AKA Heather at work) becomes upset at their presence, enough so to leave in the middle of her set. Al follows her to the dressing room to admonish her and tells her to get out on the floor to get lap dances. She works the room feverishly, doing all she can to avoid Cristal and Zack. Another dancer approaches with the news that they want a dance from her, but she refuses regardless of the amount of money involved. When Al (Robert Davi) gets a whiff of the commission Nomi is refusing, he forces Nomi to agree to dance. Cristal watches as Nomi gives a nude dance so overwhelming that Zack has an orgasm. She then taunts Nomi with the money, paying her as slowly as she can to draw out Nomi's embarrassment. Back in the dressing room, Al comes in for his cut of Nomi's money. When she roughly slaps the money into his hand, he asks her why she isn't celebrating the fact that she made $500 in just a few minutes.

James shows up to her and Molly's trailer the next morning, surprising her with the knowledge that he watched her "performance" with Zack and Cristal. He also accuses her of having sex with Zack, which she vehemently denies. He wonders why she wants to be part of their world when what she is doing at the Cheetah is honest, not a farce. She yells at him to leave, which he does.

Cristal sends someone in to the Cheetah to inform Nomi about an open audition for the chorus line of Goddess. Nomi shows up dressed in several layers of dancer's clothes, but strips down so she can compete with the other dancers present. Tony Moss (Alan Rachins), the show's director, whittles down the dancers for various reasons: weight, nose, ears, lack of talent, too much technique or classes before even seeing them dance. Then after a few rounds of actual dance, it's down to Nomi and 2 other dancers. Moss humiliates Nomi by asking her to put ice on her nipples to make them hard since the show is topless. Furious at how much her dream is beginning to resemble her reality, Nomi storms off the stage with Cristal close behind her. In tears, Nomi asks her if she enjoyed her public humiliation, to which of course she says yes.

When leaving, she runs into James (now a valet) who says he has written a dance number for her. He once again loses another job when he refuses to stop talking to her. He takes her for a burger and a ride in hi scar which ends at his apartment. It turns out that at least some of his talk is true, for his apartment showcases his past with Alvin Ailey and other prestigious dance groups. He contends that Nomi is too talented to be a stripper or showgirl. He begins to show her his dance which she takes to quickly and they kiss. Although there is attraction between them, Nomi refuses to sleep with him, claiming that she has her period. Not believing her, James sticks his hands down her pants, only to find out she was telling the truth. He claims he doesn't care and that he has towels, but Nomi straightens her clothes and tells him she wouldn't sleep with him until he can show he loves her. She then leaves as James asks her about her past. Thinking that she blew the audition, Nomi is amazed to arrive home to a message to call Tony Moss. When she calls, he informs her that she did indeed get the job(all devised by Cristal so she can keep her close). She takes a cab to see James to tell him that she did get the job and finds another woman in his bed. He then tells her they had no ties and she (correctly) surmises that he fed the woman in his bed (one of her co-workers at the Cheetah) the same lines he fed her when they first met. After she leaves, the woman comes to the door and asks him who it was. James responds that it was no one and she asks if he wanted her in the number he wrote for her. He then responds in the negative because Nomi "can't dance". When she goes to quit the Cheetah, Al contends that she'll be back, to which Nomi seriously answers that she would never return.

Nomi is thrown in to the show head first, learning the steps the afternoon of her first show. although it is rough, Nomi is more than happy with arriving at her dream. Cristal continues to put Nomi back in the very place she is trying to escape by suggesting she make a "goodwill appearance" at a boat trade show. She is warned not to accept, but she does anyway, simply wanting to be in the spotlight. She should have headed the warning, for she and the other dancer are expected to "entertain" both Phil and a whale after the show. She leaves ticked off at what she is expected to do and runs to Zack who puts on a show of calling Phil out and threatening his job if he ever approaches Nomi that way again. After Nomi leaves, satisfied, Zack calls Phil back upstairs.

Intrigued by Nomi's fire and her lapdancing abilities, Zack woes Nomi, taking her back to his house. There they end up having sex in his pool. He wakes to Nomi dressing to leave and he asks her to stay. She refuses and then he tells her about an audition to become Cristal's understudy. Nomi gets the job (to which Gay attributed to her "other talents"), but Cristal threatens legal action against the Stardust so the offer is rescinded. Cristal asks Nomi if she had sex with Zack to get back at her, for the job or both and Nimi informs her that she didn't even know about the audition until after they had sex. Cristal further taunts Nomi at a performance so between numbers Nomi pushes her down a flight of stairs backstagem causing and Cristal to suffer a compound fracture of her hip. When asked what happened and where she was, Nomi claims Cristal slipped and another dancer Julie backs her story.

When the powers that be convene to figure out what to do, many options are discussed. When the available celebs are deemed too expensive and the owner refuses to let the show be dark, they ask who Cristal's understudy was. Since before the lawyers became involved Nomi had been chosen, she lands the job as the lead in Goddess. After her debut, Nomi is glowing. However, Molly hadn't believed her innocence and finds nothing to celebrate. Nomi reminds her that Julie backed her story up and tries to reel her in with the fact that her favorite star musician Andrew Carver (William Shockley) would be attending the party. However, Molly remains unphased and as she turns to leave, Nomi grabs her and states that all her success would be for nothing if not for her.

Nomi's party begins bright, but quickly dims. The dancer who backed Nomi's story asks to become her understudy, to which she says she will see what she can do. Molly shows up to support her friend and is in return introduced to Andrew Carver. Carver pretends to dote on the starstruck Molly who innocently accompanies him to his room. Once there, Carver and his two security guards brutally beat and rape her, requiring her hospitalization. Nomi is furious that no one has called the police and Zack explains to her that it's business. At one point Andrew Carver may want to play the Stardust and they must insure that nothing stops that. When Nomi goes to the payphone to call the police, Zack reveals that he knows who she really is due to her arrest at the club: a runaway and former prostitute named Polly. He goes on to explain the even uglier parts of her past, namely the murdered her mother and then killed himself, of her mother and father. Zack vows to make her a huge star as long as she cooperates and that they will get Molly a store for what was done to her.

Unable to obtain justice for Molly without exposing her past, Nomi resorts to vengeance: she calls Carver for a get together. Once alone in his hotel room, she violently assaults him with her thigh high stiletto boots. Nomi then pays two hospital visits: one to Molly to inform her of what she did to Carver and one to Cristal to apologize. Cristal reminds her of what she had told her when they first met: "Be the only one left standing, and you get the gig" and reveals that is how she received her first lead role. Cristal also tells Nomi that she actually was glad she was hurt because she was so tired and the large settlement her lawyers procured her. Before Nomi leaves, Cristal gifts her signature black cowboy hat to her and they share one passionate kiss. The movie comes full circle when Nomi, leaving Las Vegas, hitches a ride to Los Angeles with Jeff (Dewey Weber), the same man who gave her a ride in the opening scene. The film's last shot juxtaposes a billboard advertising Nomi's starring role in Goddess with a road sign indicating the distance to Los Angeles.

[edit] Reception

Showgirls' subject matter was relatively controversial: rape, lesbianism, and interracial relationships were just some of the topics explored. The film's gratuitous nudity, simulated sex, and $2 million screenplay^[5] (written by Joe Eszterhas, who had worked with director Paul Verhoeven before) did not lend itself to what might have been a provocative film. The 1998 film Burn Hollywood Burn, also written by Eszterhas, contains a reference to Showgirls as a "terrible" film.

Showgirls received a 14% positive on the film-critics Aggregate Site Rotten Tomatoes.^{[citation needed]} Roger Ebert wrote that Showgirls received "some bad reviews, but it wasn't completely terrible".^[6] Despite Ebert's views, the movie was heralded as one of cinema's worst, winning seven 1995 Golden Raspberry Awards or "Razzies" (from a record 13 nominations). Verhoeven gamely appeared in person at the Razzies ceremony to accept his award for Worst Director; Showgirls would later win a record-setting eighth Razzie Award for Worst Picture of the Last Decade in 2000.

Due to Showgirls' poor reception, Striptease, a 1996 film about nude dancers starring Demi Moore, had to be distanced from Showgirls in advertisements;^[7] Striptease nonetheless won the next year's Razzie Award for Worst Picture. Rena Riffel, who played Penny/Hope in Showgirls, also was cast in Striptease, as Tiffany Glass.

The term "Showgirls-bad" has been adopted by film critics and fans to refer to films considered guilty pleasures, or "so-bad-they're-good".^[8][9][10]

To date Showgirls holds the honor of being the highest-grossing NC-17 production earning $20,350,754 at the North American Box Office.^[11]

[edit] Cult status

Since its release, the movie has achieved cult status. According to writer Naomi Klein, ironic enjoyment of the film initially arose among those with the video before MGM capitalized on the idea. MGM noticed the video was performing well because "trendy twenty-somethings were throwing Showgirls irony parties, laughing sardonically at the implausibly poor screenplay and shrieking with horror at the aerobic sexual encounters".^[12]

Showgirls is shown at midnight movies alongside such films as The Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. It is heralded as one of the best "bad movies", a camp classic in the vein of Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. Although the film was not successful when first released theatrically, it generated more than $100 million from video rentals ^[2] and became one of MGM's top 20 all-time bestsellers,^[13].

The rights to show the movie on TV were eventually purchased by the VH1 network. However, because of the film's rampant, gratuitous nudity, a peculiar moment in cinema history occurred: a censored version was created with black bras and panties digitally rendered to hide all exposed breasts and genitals. Also, several scenes were removed entirely. Berkley refused to redub her lines,^{[citation needed]} so a noticeably different actress' voice can be heard on the soundtrack.

As revealed on the DVD release, a sign showing the distance to Los Angeles in the last shot of the film hinted at a sequel in which Nomi takes on Hollywood. Any such plans were scrapped upon the film's massive critical fiasco.

The film was also ranked #36 on Entertainment Weekly magazine's "The Top 50 Cult Movies list.^[14]

Recent years have seen a reevaluation of the movie's merits. Critics such as Jonathan Rosenbaum and Charles Taylor, as well as filmmaker Jacques Rivette, have gone on the record defending Showgirls as a serious satire. Actor Patrick Bristow, who plays choreographer Marty, defended the movie as "not that bad" except "that horrible rape scene."^{[citation needed]} Quentin Tarantino has stated that he enjoyed Showgirls, referring to it as the "only [...] other time in the last twenty years [that] a major studio made a full-on, gigantic, big-budget exploitation movie", comparing it to Mandingo.^[15]

[edit] Awards

The film earned a record thirteen Razzie nominations in 1996, and would take home a whopping seven awards--a record later tied by Battlefield Earth in 2001. Showgirls would later win an eighth Razzie in 2000; Battlefield Earth would again tie this number in 2005. (The single-year record of seven Razzies was broken when the film I Know Who Killed Me won eight awards in 2008.) Director Paul Verhoeven sportingly accepted his Worst Director award in person.

• Worst Picture (Won)
• Worst Director (Paul Verhoeven, Won)
• Worst Actor (Kyle MacLachlan)
• Worst Actress (Elizabeth Berkley, Won)
• Worst Supporting Actor (Robert Davi)
• Worst Supporting Actor (Alan Rachins)
• Worst Supporting Actress (Gina Gershon)
• Worst Supporting Actress (Lin Tucci)
• Worst Screenplay (Joe Eszterhas, Won)
• Worst New Star (Elizabeth Berkley, Won)
• Worst Remake or Sequel (remake of both All About Eve & The Lonely Lady)
• Worst Screen Couple ("Any combination of two people, or two body parts", Won)
• Worst Original Song ("Walk Into the Wind", Won)
• Worst Movie of the Decade (awarded in 2000)

[edit] DVD releases

In 2004, MGM released "The V.I.P. Edition" of Showgirls in a special boxed set containing two shot glasses, movie cards with drinking games on the back, a deck of playing cards, and a nude poster of Berkley with a pair of suction-cup pasties so viewers can play "pin the pasties on the showgirl."

The DVD itself includes several bonus features, including a "how-to" tutorial for giving a lapdance hosted by real strippers, and a special "trivia track" feature that can be turned on or off. When left on, it adds humorous comments and factoids in the vein of VH1's Pop Up Video that relate to the scenes as they play out. It also includes "The Greatest Movie Ever Made: a commentary by David Schmader."

In 2007, MGM re-released the V.I.P. edition DVD without the physical extras.

[edit] Cast

• Elizabeth Berkley as Nomi Malone
• Kyle MacLachlan as Zack Carey
• Gina Gershon as Cristal Connors
• Glenn Plummer as James Smith
• Robert Davi as Al Torres
• Alan Rachins as Tony Moss
• Gina Ravera as Molly Abrams
• Lin Tucci as Henrietta "Mama" Bazoom
• Greg Travis as Phil Newkirk
• Al Ruscio as Mr. Karlman
• Patrick Bristow as Marty Jacobsen
• William Shockley as Andrew Carver
• Michelle Johnston as Gay Carpenter
• Dewey Weber as Jeff
• Rena Riffel as Penny/Hope
• Melissa Williams as Julie
• Ungela Brockman as Angie
• Melinda Songer as Nicky

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Parish, James Robert (2006). Fiasco - A History of Hollywood’s Iconic Flops. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN-13 978-0-471-69159-4. 

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Showgirls

• Official website
• Showgirls Film Society
• Showgirls at the Internet Movie Database
• Showgirls at Allmovie
• Showgirls at Rotten Tomatoes

[edit] Reviews

• Review by Janet Maslin at New York Times
• Recap Attack: Showgirls - satirical plot recap by D. Yueh at AfterEllen.com