Review of Showgirls (1995) by Kenneth S — 28 Jan 2009

All right, people. What, exactly makes this film so bad that many consider it to be one of the worst films ever made? Is the acting hokey? Sure. Is the writing bad? Ehh. How about the fact that once you've seen this film you can't forget it? How about the huge cult following it has generated? How about the legacy just the title itself has created? How can you take all that in account and still hate this film? I, for one, consider it a major guilty pleasure, and I thoroughly enjoy this film.

I couldn't imagine the film world without it. Joe Eszterhas and Paul Verjoeven wove this decadent debauchery of a movie with the best intentions, and their result will forever stand the test of time as a standard for excess in mainstream cinema.

A young woman longs to become a dancer in a major Las Vegas show. Her rise and fall form the dynamic arc of this great, underappreciated, film.