(15) 88mins
UNTIL she received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in this movie, it was said that Playboy model turned-actress Pamela Anderson was not taken seriously.
Hard to imagine why that opinion had been formed about the star of Baywatch, Naked Souls, Stripperella and Blonde And Blonder, isn’t it?
Saying yes to one terrible role after another was never going to do much for Pamela’s reputation.
But finally, at the age of 57, she was offered the perfect part by director Gia Coppola.
In melodrama The Last Showgirl, Pamela plays Shelly, a dancer who has devoted 37 years of her life to being a Las Vegas showgirl.
Shelly loves the glamour of performing on stage, dressed in feathers and sequins, with a chorus of other beautiful women.
It is, she proudly tells her younger colleagues, part of a great entertainment legacy stretching back to France.
Audiences, though, have moved with the times and the girls’ erotic routine faces the axe.
Shelly, like Pamela, is from a different era and is fighting against an ageist business that only wants young blood.
There is a comic innocence about the showgirl who chucks a smoke alarm down the loo and gets her wings caught in the door on her way on to the stage.
More than anything it is Pamela’s honest and emotional acting which makes The Last Showgirl worth watching.
There is also a strong supporting performance from Jamie Lee Curtis as Annette, whose withering put-downs of men add to the entertainment.
Sadly, though, Gia, whose grandfather is The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola, struggles to draw any tension from the storyline.
Subplots involving gambler Annette and Kiernan Shipka’s troubled young stripper Jodie go nowhere.
The gradual revelations of Shelly’s past feel a bit hackneyed.
And there’s no great showstopping moment.
But whatever material lands in Pamela’s lap, she makes the most of it.
This is her show, and it’s unlikely to be her last.
(12A) 128mins
NEAR the end of this Hindi language movie I was starting to think the plot was a little far-fetched.
But as the credits rolled after an incredibly tear-jerking yet uplifting ending, so did photos of the real people this film is about.
Nasir Shaikh (Adarsh Gourav) is a Buster Keaton aficionado who ropes in four pals from their small home town of Malegaon to make parodies of famous Bollywood hits.
His ingenious low-budget problem-solving and love for movies make this a total joy.
But Nasir’s self-centred approach sees him fall out with his friends.
This follow-up to a 2008 documentary about the five filmmakers called Supermen Of Malegaon is a feel-good treasure.
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