One of the most critically acclaimed films of 1995, this wrenchingly sad but extraordinarily moving drama provides an authentic, superbly acted portrait of two people whose lives intersect just as they've reached their lowest depths of despair. Ben (Nicolas Cage, in an Oscar-winning performance) is a former movie executive who's lost his wife and family in a sea of alcoholic self-destruction. He's come to Las Vegas literally to drink himself to death, and that's when he meets Sera (Elisabeth Shue), a prostitute who falls in love with him--and he with her--despite their mutual dead-end existence. They accept each other as they are, with no attempts by one to change the other, and this unconditional love turns Leaving Las Vegas into a somber yet quietly beautiful love story. Earning Oscar nominations for Best Director (Mike Figgis), Best Adapted Screenplay (Figgis, from John O'Brien's novel) and Best Actress (Shue), the film may strike some as relentlessly bleak and glacially paced, but attentive viewers will readily discover the richness of these tragic characters and the exceptional performances that bring them to life. (In a sad echo of his own fiction, novelist John O'Brien committed suicide while this film was in production.) The DVD features uncut, unrated footage that was not included in the film's theatrical release. --Jeff Shannon
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Isn't that what they do?
Review Date: July 12, 2010
Reviewer: C. McGhee, Hutchinson,Ks.
Leaving Las Vegas is a hard core hark back to the old Film Noir genre. Set to deal with the dark & seamy side of living it does just that & adds terrific performances by Elizabeth Shue & Nicholas Cage.
Cage plays a movie exec that has reached his limit as a hard drinking alcoholic. Here's a question, who manipulates people more the movie exec or the alcoholic? Maybe the one is training for the other.
Shue plays a been everywhere done everything whore who wakes up & realizes she's alone not just at night but every minute of everyday. This is where I part from the normal story synopsis which claims they fall in love. Yeah right. This is two people totally absorbed in themselves who have unique & hard to fill needs in their lives. Cage wants someone to hold his hand while he drinks himself to death without nagging him about it. Shue wants something to come home to besides mouth wash for her paste filled teeth. Although she can easily swing both ways her preference turns out to be hetero. I'm sure lots of men have fantasized about living & loving with a whore. I'm just as certain men almost all know it won't work like you think. Shue needs a guy with an askew view.
Enter the above two, into each others lives. Now our whore who has capably manipulated men into giving her what she wants for years stumbles on? no finds, the biggest loser she can have contact with & surprise? no entices, him with what he is so desperatly looking for, a hand & body to hold while dying. Cage on the other hand wants to find a girl to ease his passing & looks in the Las Vegas Sunday School Social Register? no checks out, the whores available. He gives chase to the one that responds in the most positive manner.
The only love here is self love. The only reason this works is because it is obvious that we're looking at a short term relationship. In the end Cage is dead, as he wanted to be. Shue is still alive & has had this marvellous experience of not coming home to just mouth wash. That means Shue used Cage to combat her terrible lonliness, without the long term commitment she did not have any use or desire for. Whereas Cage used Shue to keep himself from falling totally into self-loathing since he had this one human who would hold his hand till death. They both attain what they want by their own devices.
The truly stellar performances turned in by Cage & Shue are what makes this story go even more than the story which is top-notch itself. The movie could of so easily turned into just a vile look at what humanity is capable of but the performances keep it alive & moving.
So often we forget the failures & half truths we have in our own lives & if you're one of those moviegoers that only go to the show to be uplifted & refreshed you should avoid this at all costs.
I give Cage's portrayal as an end of the road alcoholic 5 stars.
Shue gets 6 stars as the whore. I sometimes feel that people think anyone could play a convincing whore. I don't think that. 6 stars.
NOW for contentions, which are small. I was actually PO'ed that they used the buggs bunny roadrunner type of highway travel when Cage went to Vegas. It did not belong anywhere in this movie! I would of preferred to have fewer close-ups on human heads that left no sense of framing to the shot. This is a completely amateur mistake in photography or filming. It was used far, far too much.
I give this movie 5 stars. Becuase, I felt it had a lot of romance to it. Also, it was more realistic than your typical romance love story. Nicolas Cage plays an alcoholic living in Las Vegas. Whom meets a pretty prostitute they fall in love for a short period of time. They realize they have faults, but they don't judge one another. They help one another when one is down on their luck. The ending is sad. However, no other movie is like this very different.
worst nickolas cage movie ever.....
Review Date: May 1, 2010
Reviewer: gary baxley, missouri
i love watching cage perform,but why he took the role in this film i'll never understand.this is an all around depressing-what the hell movie.hated it!glad i didnt buy it,but truthfully....found it on the sidewalk.guess someone else found it useless as well.......crappola plus,thats why it got one star.
Seriously?
Review Date: April 22, 2010
Reviewer: Austin Eklund, Gainesville, FL USA
This movie is terrible. Its only redeeming quality is the committed (and Oscar-winning) performance of Nicolas Cage. The fact that Elisabeth Shue was nominated for an Oscar for her performance is a crime. She's awful. She has two facial expressions. She isn't even able to muster up one tear. It's a horrible, horrible, horrible performance.
The movie has no plot. Everything about it is gratuitous. The cinema verite feel that writer/director Mike Figgis went for is a joke; the movie isn't even vaguely realistic. There's almost zero backstory, and the characters are completely one-dimensional. It's impossible to relate to these characters. In what universe does this film take place?
The screenplay is chock-full of cheesy lines. Avoid at all costs. Two stars for Cage; zero for everyone else.
Not for repeated viewing
Review Date: January 24, 2010
Reviewer: Reviewer, Anytown USA
A love story of a different - and rather disturbing - kind. Tormented alcoholic Ben (Nicholas Cage) leaves his home and family to drink himself to death in Las Vegas. Soon after arriving he meets up with a battered prostitute (Elizabeth Shue) and quickly strikes up a friendship with her. The movie chronicles their relationship to the tragic end you know is coming, yet it never feels predictable. Yes, it's a depressing film, but you get caught up in the extremely compelling downward spiral, and the acting is top notch. Certainly not family entertainment. I wouldn't let any kid under 20 watch it, especially the uncut version, which I happened on for the first time on the IFC channel the other day. Powerful stuff though.
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Isn't that what they do?
