Showgirls Details

According to director Paul Verhoeven, his controversial and much-reviled showbiz exposé is an incisive look at sleazy Las Vegas life. To almost everyone else, it is an instant kitsch classic charting the rise of small-town girl Elizabeth Berkley from tawdry lap dancer to famed topless revue headliner. Practically nothing works in this tacky sashay through Valley of the Dolls clichés and unerotic burlesque. Apart from head showgirl Gina Gershon, everyone is miscast and the end result is nothing more than a posh sexploitation flick with tarnished good intentions. Sexist, offensive and pathetic? Or a gritty, truthful wake-up call? You decide if you can stop giggling for long enough!

A prurient and voyeuristic display that its director apparently saw as an updated version of the Hollywood musical; but the routines on display are invariably tawdry, all the characters are dim, exploited and exploitative, the script is composed of the st