Leaving Las Vegas: Liebe bis in den Tod

Leaving Las Vegas is a very powerful character drama that happens to be the best acting Nicholas Cage has ever done. We are so used to his over-the-top performances, but this role is very reserved. He does play an alcohol addict, but he isn't crazy for the majority of the film and that's a relief. This film was made on a very cheap budget, but that doesn't matter when we get too involved in the story and the relationship between the two main characters.

Mike Figgis's film is about a Hollywood screenwriter named Ben who loses everything thanks to his alcoholism. He decides to go to Las Vegas to literally drink himself to death and that's where he meets a prostitute, Sera. They form a relationship despite their issues and each realize they form a special bond with each other.

The acting is very good. Nic Cage does a career role and his portrayal of an alcoholic is very realistic and disturbing. I'm perturbed on how much alcohol he drank in the film. Elizabeth Shue does very well as Sera and we are able to feel her pain despite her profession.

Overall, this is a very surreal and realistic drama that focuses mightily on characterization. I don't like what each person does, but somehow the movie makes me feel bad for them and root for good things to happen to our main characters. Also, I really liked the look and the feel of the film. It gives out a more realistic feeling. Thanks to the raw, gritty, and powerful performances, this movie works on a high level. I rate this film 9/10.

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, to a level not seen since Jane Fonda's character in Klute. Excellent performances all around.

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.

If this film is not for everyone, then who is it for? Those with real life experience and the maturity gained thereby. Those with strong emotional constitutions. Anyone appreciative of impassioned performances. Freudians. Alcoholics, recovering and otherwise. Pimps. Priests. Classicists. Petty whiners in need of perspective. And, more than anyone else, couples who plan on breaking up. In sickness and in health, 'til death do us part. 9.5 out of 10.

It's not a movie I could bear to watch very often, because it's sad to see people destroy themselves. But Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue are riveting to watch here. As a person who has a past involvement in alcohol and substance abuse, I found Cage's performance especially compelling, and after watching him in this one, I am sure glad that lifestyle is behind me!

The chemistry between these two is really great, two people that need each other in different ways, trying to cope with how screwed up their lives have become. Very real performances, if you're faint-of-heart be ready for some strong words, and not just obscenities. Wow! They really lay it on the line. Great performances by two of my favorites.

Ben Sanderson is an alcoholic, who after getting released from his well paid screen writing position, heads to Vegas with his severance pay. Where he seriously plans to drink himself to death. But whilst cruising down the strip he meets Sera, a nicely turned out prostitute, and both troubled souls come together in an unlikely romance.

Based around the semi-autobiographical novel by John O'Brien, an alcoholic who committed suicide before the film made it to the screen, this is a sad, dark and deeply upsetting picture. Sanderson and his plight has no motive, we are not fed reasons for his nihilistic behaviour. We find him at the beginning of the film joyously hurtling thru a liquor market isle, promptly filling his shopping cart with bottles of liquor. From here on in we know that this is no ordinary film about an alcoholic trying to get off the booze, we are on a train to Bleakville, stops at Love and Liberation seem a very long way away.

Enter Sera, the sweet and wholesome prostitute, who having escaped the abusive and borderline psycho pimp, Yuri, is herself in need of liberation. But can she carry the burden of both as this unlikely and almost certainly doomed romance starts to become significant? Nicholas Cage as Sanderson is terrific, very compelling, realistic and segueing from zany wired comedy to the desolation of Sanderson's death wish descent within a heart beat. Elisabeth Shue as Sera is also incredibly potent, if perhaps guilty of looking too pristine, and prompting questions of why she would be drawn to Ben's world anyway?

Shue none the less works her socks off to make Sera sensitive and believable. Directed by Mike Figgis, who shot it beautifully in Super 16 film, the film won a Best Actor Academy Award for Cage, and garnered nominations for Best Actress {Shue} & Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay {both Figgis}. Massively popular and praised on release, it has lost none of the impact that it had back then. 8/10

Leaving Las Vegas (1995)

**** (out of 4)

Depressing account of a man (Nicholas Cage) who goes to Las Vegas to drink himself to death and once there he strikes up a relationship with a prostitute (Elisabeth Shue). Going back and watching this film after so many years had a lot of things going through my mind. Such as the first time I watched this it was in the theater as the second part of a double feature with DEAD MAN WALKING. Talk about a depressing four hours in the theater. The second thing it reminded me of was what a terrific actor Cage was and how at the time many people were calling him one of the greatest of his generation. I bring this up considering the type of films Cage is currently doing. LEAVING LAS VEGAS is without question a very dark and depressing film and it always amuses me that people attacked the picture for this. I mean, there are several films each year that shows the fun side of drinking so I always find it strange that so many could object to a film showing the ugly side. I can understand people not wanting to sit through a nearly two-hour suicide movie but at the same time those who can stomach the story are going to be shown one of the best performances from this era. Cage is simply marvelous as the alcoholic who goes on a death wish for reasons we're not fully told. It's funny but the screenplay really doesn't give us much insight to either character other than both are troubled, alone and find some sort of comfort with each other. This love story between the two certainly isn't all that casual or romantic but it's quite unique in its own way. The way Cage controls this character, his various emotions and the physical nature of his body falling apart are simply amazing to watch. It really reminds one of how great he can be when the material is right. Shue also turns in the best performance of her career and you can really see the pain in her eyes as this man she loves is slowly dying. Julian Sands is also quite effective in his few scenes. Director Mike Figgis does an extremely good job with the material but a lot of credit also needs to go towards his film score. LEAVING LAS VEGAS isn't a very pretty movie to watch but then again, why would anyone expect alcoholism to be pretty?