Word: verhoeven
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Showgirls, a Las Vegas sex-and-dope opera from the Basic Instinct team of Joe Eszterhas (writer) and Paul Verhoeven (director), is one of those delirious, hilarious botches that could be taught in film schools as a How Not To. It tells the story of edgy, ambitious Nomi Malone (Elizabeth Berkley), a Vegas newcomer who gets a job as stripper at a seedy club, then screws her way to the star spot in a hotel revue, over the backs and other body parts of her rivals, notably headliner Cristal Connors (Gina Gershon...
...risks are high. The $40 million film has no stars and has been critically drubbed. Its sole market value, beyond the Eszterhas-Verhoeven brand name, is its rating--the one most directors so fear that they will scissor their films (as Verhoeven did with Basic Instinct) to avoid getting it. Showgirls wears this stigma as a badge of honor and a sales pitch. "Leave your inhibitions at the door," the ads blare. Translation: Dirty movie ahead...
...point during "Showgirls," one of the Stardust Club's head honchos tells his entertainment director Zack Carey (Kyle MacLachlan) "This is bullshit. This is about your dick." He might as well be describing director Paul Verhoeven's latest no-brainer...
...wants to be an erotic psychodrama and a moral satire all at once, but turns out to be nothing more than a tease. The film's pretentious direction and disingenuous thematic grappling do little to disguise its creators' real intentions. "Showgirls" is just a racier version of the ubiquitous Verhoeven wet dream: all the world is a stage, and all the actors are snitty, well-oiled lesbians in thong bikinis...
...film's more memorable tidbits, Nomi's two-timing boyfriend unintentionally sums up the whole misguided mess, confessing, "I've gotta problem with pussy. I always have and I'm always gonna." We KNOW, Mr. Verhoeven. We know...