Leaving Las Vegas (1995)

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

I'll start by saying this isn't a pleasant film to watch; however, it's a powerful one. It is executed methodically, through an unapologetic, uncompromising lens, examining the self-destructiveness of human beings in agonizing circumstances, with the caveat that even in utter anguish you can find some degree of comfort through the mutual support of another.The main character, played by Nicolas Cage, has given up on life. He is deeply dependent on alcohol to numb the pain of a life-altering tragedy involving his past family, though the details remain unspecified. He meets Sera, a disillusioned prostitute, after giving up and moving to Las Vegas to die. They quickly become reliant on one another for support in their otherwise profoundly lonely, profoundly miserable lives. But it quickly becomes established that their paths are set; they will not change.The film's greatest strength comes from the uncompromising nature of its exploration of difficult themes such as caring for someone in the face of unending despair and inevitable death. The story itself is fairly minimalist, making its thought-provoking points brilliantly without diluting them with anything artificial or sappy. The whole thing feels honest and genuine in its execution. The way the characters are portrayed by the two lead actors is also excellent, particularly Elizabeth Shue. Nicolas Cage's performance rides the line of overacting in a few places, but it works given the extremeness of the character.At a few points, the film does feel like it meanders from its strengths. This is most notable in a few scenes when the main characters are not together. Whenever they are together, the film shines. I also found some of the music for the film (which was, in part, composed by the director) to be distracting or out of place, particularly in the first half. The film is also so raw in its depictions of human despair and misery that it is a hard one to really derive true enjoyment from. It's not a film I anticipate wanting to watch again any time soon.Even while much of the film is unpleasant and difficult to digest, it is nonetheless a very strong, well-made film with a conclusion of a subtly uplifting nature. One person can make a difference in another person's life, even if it is at the very end.

Nicolas Cage won a Best Actor Oscar for this movie, while, Elisabeth Shue was nominated for Best Actress, and Mike Figgis received two nominations: Best Director and Best Writer for a screenplay. Figgis also wrote the original film score for the movie and had a small acting part. So, in many ways, this was HIS movie.This is easily the most depressing Oscar-winning movie in my recollection, and movies don't often depress me. However, this one about a hopeless self-destructive alcoholic, Ben Sanderson (Nicholas Cage), who openly declares that he plans to drink himself to death is depressing beyond belief. When he meets a 'high-price' Las Vegas hooker, Sera (Elisabeth Shue), who loves him so much that she wants to live with him, she must agree never to interfere with his planned 'dipsosuicide.' Sera: Don't you like me, Ben? Ben: Sera... what you don't understand is- no, see, no. You can never, never ask me to stop drinking. Do you understand? Sera: I do. I really do.The two live out their two separate lives while watching their mutual destruction without complaint.I think that Cage DID play the alcoholic personality rather well in that he tries to be loved in spite of his despicable and unapologetic condition, often trying to laugh it off, which, I understand, is often the way that alcoholics deal with the disease. That is, he wants to be loved in spite of his declared suicide pact:Sera: Is drinking a way of killing yourself? Ben: Or, is killing myself a way of drinking?Perhaps, Cage played the role TOO well for me as I will never look at this movie again. It is the type of movie that makes you want to have a coffee enema, a sweat bath, a week-long fast, and then have your body and soul dry-cleaned and then wet cleaned just to make sure.

Leaving Las Vegas came out (1995) I gave it 7/10 for its efforts off showing how alcohol can damage lives and careers in this 1hr 51min | Drama, and Romance with a few Oscars nomination and win in this indie film. I think the success of Ben career as screen writer and probably all the parties got to much for his character life. this is nick 2nd film set in Las Vegas with con air been the other Ben Sanderson, an alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter who lost everything because of his drinking, arrives in Las Vegas to drink himself to death. There, he meets and forms an uneasy friendship and non-interference pact with prostitute Sera Director:Mike Figgis directed an award winning film for 2 characters who acted out their skin but nick didn't deserve Elizabeth did deserved for her emotion to her character it won a best actor Oscar Nicolas Cage ...Ben Sanderson / but he should not have won I would have gave it to Anthony Hopkins for Nixon or Sean Penn for dead man walking Elisabeth Shue ...Sera Because his wife left him and took his son with her, screenwriter Ben Sanderson has started drinking, a lot. He's getting more and more isolated and he troubles women in bars because he wants to have s*x with them. When he gets fired, he decides to leave everything behind and move to Las Vegas and drink himself to death where the bars never close . In Las Vegas he meets Sera, a prostitute with some problems as well who he moves in with.an extraordinary love affair develops and vows never to ask him to stop drinking she breaks vow which is very heart breaking and he leaves Not unlike John Huston's Under The Volcano, Leaving Las Vegas borrows from Greek mythology, obliquely mirroring the tragedy and pathos of Orpheus' failed attempt to rescue his dead wife, Eurydice, from Hades. Mike Figgis obliges us with a helpful hint in the scene where Nicolas Cage gives Elizabeth Shue a present of earrings: Greek cameos.As in the ancient tale, love challenges the inevitability of death, although, in the case of LLV, roles are upended and sometimes blurred, and Orphean references are either thinly disguised, or non-specific to the point of being thoroughly sublimated. Academic, to be sure, but completely acceptable as long as LLV can sustain itself and remain engaging. And it surely does, thanks to Figgis' intelligent script and direction, Cage's role as a down-and-out writer and his protracted self-destruction, and Shue's portrayal of a lonely hooker, lifting that old bromide beyond what could have been routine, since .With all that said, this film is not for everyone (in particular those who only respond to gratuitous sex, car chases, and mindless pyrotechnics). The lurid depictions of despair, self-loathing, and violence could put off even the most hardened social worker. In my mind's eye, I could see psychiatrists amongst the theater audiences, furiously jotting down their observations. Understandable; the two principal characters are, in the common parlance, screwed up. One cannot cope with failure, so decides to opt out, while the other does cope, but only barely, existing along the ragged edges of what passes for society in Nevada Hell. These details, though, tend to outline and, indeed, strengthen the true heart of this film: Sacrifice and Unconditional Love.this is my 184 review

A suicidal drunk and an abused street whore meet entirely by chance and form a relationship. Such a premise for a story seems contrived, but in this movie its believable. The drunk, played by Nicholas Cage, and the whore, played by Elisabeth Shue, do not come off as caricatures. As a result, the story is engaging. These two characters are worth caring about. They are troubled, needy, alone, angry, yet form an attachment that is the basis of the story. Setting the story in Las Vegas gives the story an even more austere quality. The lights of the strip are in stark contrast to the darkness and gloominess of their lives. Now, the movie also includes a third "character", alcohol. This movie captures the ugliness and destructiveness of drinking. As Ben keeps drinking his behavior gets more erratic. This drives Sera to do even more whoring. Although they assured each other that they were okay with the respective drinking and whoring, it soon becomes apparent that both are deeply bothered and hurt by what the other is doing and want them to stop. That's because they love each other. To find out how they work it out, watch the movie. Excellent acting, excellent story, stunningly beautiful cinematography. This is Nicholas Cage's best movie. As for Elisabeth Shue, her performance is stellar.