thadeusgreyson

This film is just not that pleasant to watch, even with all its high end production value, and professional direction.

Nudity abounds, but is never titillating, performances are exaggerated to the point of making you detached and uncaring for the main characters. The dialogue is cringeworthy most of the time, so much so that a number of scenes and lines are now infamous and praised by the fans that have brought a cult status to it over the years, such as the doggie chow lunch scene.

Critics panned it on its release, and it won a number of Razzies, with the director, Paul Verhoeven attending the ceremony and accepting the "awards".

But it is well shot, the design and costumes are appropriate for the story, and at times it feels like an interesting behind the scenes view of the dark side of dancing in Vegas and following one's dreams at any price, but then the dialogue and the direction of over the top performances overwhelms all of those things.

"So bad it's good" has been a label applied to this film, and for the ardent fans out there this label is true, but not for me.

Watch the documentary "You don't nomi" and see more about the making of this film, which, as mentioned in the documentary, was done as a serious, realistic drama, but turned out to be completely unrealistic.

This documentary puts forward the idea that perhaps Paul Verhoeven's Razzie winning film "Showgirls" needs reappraisal.

If you haven't already seen it I would suggest you watch "Showgirls" first and then wait at least a day, if not a week, before watching this documentary.

My overall impression of the original film was it was a mis-fire from an over the top, intelligent and creative director who likes to provoke and entertain at the same time. The performances throughout the film are so exaggerated that it is not enjoyable to watch, and while there is a lot of nudity this film is not sexy or titillating at all. As with all the Verhoeven films I've seen there is sex and graphic violence.

This documentary takes the viewer on the journey of how the film has been received over the years, and how it has gained cult status. Fans of the original film praise it, books have been written about it.

The use of excerpts from Verhoeven's other films with insert images of Showgirls on TVs and monitors was interesting, as well as cutting excerpts from other films to compliment the narration/interviews from various critics.

Showing how Paul Verhoeven's stance towards "Showgirls" has changed over the years is interesting, but In the end the film is still a bad film and not the masterpiece that some of the participants in this documentary put forward.

It took me a while to like this film, a long while, so much so I nearly gave up as the promised story from the one paragraph outline that MUBI sent mentions a brother and sister duo investigating what may or may not be a crime. In the end I did like it - just, and then suddenly it was over... when the standard Hollywood film would have revealed the payoff.

The film starts out as a slice of mundane life of a young man unsure of what he wants out of life, we get to meet his sister, his parents, and then a co-worker all set in a dreary cold city. At about half way through the story finally engages with the arrival of an ex girlfriend who then disappears. Slowly the protagonist is finally convinced that something isn't right by the co-worker who was getting friendly with the ex-girlfriend, and about the last third of the film is the solving of the mystery surrounding the ex-girlfriend.

I thought the performances were realistic, the mundanity was completely believable, and also bored me, because it was so true to life.

Well shot, so that you are barely aware of the camera, which adds to the slice of life style.