'The Last Showgirl' review: Pamela Anderson gives breakthrough performance in poignant Las Vegas tale

Few American cities have evolved as much as Las Vegas.

The mob-run city of the mid-20th century gave way to "legitimate" business moguls taking control of the casinos, which in turn led to a pivot toward making the Strip "family friendly," before a return to the "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" mantra in megaresorts run by corporations.

Hollywood has been in love with it all at least since the Rat Pack plotted casino robberies in the original "Ocean's 11" and Elvis Presley set his "soul on fire" in "Viva Las Vegas." And Hollywood movies have specialized in stories of the people who live and work in this idiosyncratic place, and those who are drawn there for reasons that might be sad or terrible or even criminal, but are always fundamentally human.

"The Last Showgirl," a new movie starring Pamela Anderson, earns its place in the Vegas cinema pantheon. It's about the end of a showgirl revue, the sort of show that was once a staple of the city's cultural life, before becoming a fading relic like so much else around it. Anderson plays Shelly Gardner, a 30-year veteran of "Le Razzle Dazzle," and the picture revolves around how she faces its closure during the final weeks of the run.

It's helmed by director Gia Coppola (Francis Ford's granddaughter) with a sharp, naturalistic eye. The filmmaker maintains a precise character-driven focus, even while recognizing and engaging with the larger currents at play, effectively conveying what Shelly's story says about the people who may be lost and forgotten in the increasingly corporatized Las Vegas of today.

Coppola never forces the issue, utilizing handheld camerawork to keep the focus resolutely personal, relying on shots of Shelly alone, framed against the backdrop of an expansive casino-resort or beneath glittering lights to put the story into its larger context.

The filmmaker has the confidence to stand back and allow her actors the time and space to capture something authentic. The heart of the movie beats to life thanks to her frequent use of close-ups and her faith in the actors to make the most of them, to tell us a lot about what's left unspoken. 

Cast members also include Jamie Lee Curtis as a former star of the revue, Dave Bautista as its stage manager, and Kiernan Shipka ("Mad Men") as one of Shelly's younger counterparts. 

But Anderson is, of course, the big revelation here. She's never gotten a fair shake in the business, even though she's been a pop culture icon for decades. Given the chance to finally just act without any sort of preconceptions, she gives a performance of ferocious intelligence and deep-rooted vulnerability, capturing in Shelly the fear of standing at the precipice of a major life change without shaking the confidence that comes with having been a star for so long.