Welcome to the
seedy underbelly of Las Vegas nightlife. Behind all
the glitz, glamour and money that symbolize America's most notoriously
decadent city are people: people with dreams and aspirations, willing to
barter with the minds, bodies and souls of themselves or others in the
pursuit of their often unattainable dreams. Such is the world explored by
director Paul Verhoeven in his film
Showgirls - the world you're about to enter.
Showgirls tells the story of one woman's
quest to attain
power and respect in a town where such things don't come easily. Nomi Malone arrives in Las Vegas
with a sincere love of dancing and hopes of
parlaying that love into a respectable career.
She initially settles for a job "dancing" at The Cheetah Club, a second-rate strip joint whose clientele are rarely interested in looking beyond Nomi's physical attributes and her overtly sexual lap-dancing.
But when Nomi's roommate
Molly
introduces her to Cristal Conners, the star of the
hugely
successful stage show Goddess,
Nomi gains a part in
the show and exposure to the upper echelon of the Vegas lifestyle.
New chances for respect - and sticky ethical issues - present themselves as Nomi's life comes to be manipulated by Zack Carey, the handsome entertainment director at a large hotel; James Smith, a local hustler whose interest in Nomi's dancing might be more than strictly professional; and most of all Cristal, whose respect for Nomi's skill and beauty is tempered with an often vicious and unpredictable jealousy. As Nomi finds herself drawn into the very world she has worked for so long to reach, she is haunted by a difficult, guarded past and forced to make choices about how much of herself she is willing to sacrifice to become a Vegas Strip diva. More importantly, she begins to question whether her advancement in the Las Vegas social strata can possibly result in the happy life of fame and fortune promised by the city's deceptively bright neon facade.
"The Show Is About To Begin"
(Quicktime 467K)
