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Leaving Las Vegas
1995
With LEAVING LAS VEGAS, director Mike Figgis spun critical gold out of what would appear to be a maudlin and hackneyed premise--a down-and-out drunk meets a hooker with a heart of gold. The reason for the film's success lies partly in its refusal to moralize, but mostly it is the strong performances of Nicholas Cage and .. Read more
| Starring | Nicolas Cage, Elisabeth Shue, Julian Sands, Steven Weber |
|---|---|
| Director | Mike Figgis |
| Genres | Drama |
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Leaving Las Vegas
With LEAVING LAS VEGAS, director Mike Figgis spun critical gold out of what would appear to be a maudlin and hackneyed premise--a down-and-out drunk meets a hooker with a heart of gold. The reason for the film's success lies partly in its refusal to moralize, but mostly it is the strong performances of Nicholas Cage and Elisabeth Shue that make the story believable and poignant. Ben Sanderson (Cage) is a Hollywood screenwriter who has become an alcoholic. After being fired, he takes his severance pay to Las Vegas, where he plans to drink himself to death. There he meets Sera (Shue), a streetwise prostitute who responds both to Ben's wild antics and to his absolute gentleness. What Sera needs most is to be needed, and Ben needs her a lot. Figgis uses his whole bag of tricks--Sera talks to the camera, the exteriors are shot in grainy 16mm--but finally it is the perfectly-conceived relationship between these two wounded people that drew the rave reviews. The film was based on a novel by John O'Brien.
| Starring | Nicolas Cage, Elisabeth Shue, Julian Sands, Steven Weber, Laurie Metcalf, Valeria Golino |
|---|---|
| Director | Mike Figgis |
| Studio | OPTIMUM HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 47 mins HD DVD: 1 hr 47 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama |
| Language | English |
| Subtitles | English |
| Released | DVD: 20 Oct 2008 HD DVD: 13 Aug 2007 Production year: 1995 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (6)
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How unlucky can a film get? To be released at the same time as one Las Vegas movie might be considered unfortunate, but to come up against two looks like carelessness. Yet, while Martin Scorsese's Casino fascinated the heavyweight cineastes and Paul Verhoeven's Showgirls was trawled across the tabloids, this agonising study of alcoholic self-destruction from director Mike Figgis quietly impressed film-goers across the board with its uncompromising honesty and exceptional performances. Nicolas Cage won a well-deserved Oscar for his portrayal of a failed Hollywood screenwriter who goes to Vegas to drink himself to death. Just as memorable is Oscar-nominated Elisabeth Shue as the prostitute who befriends him. Shooting in Super 16mm, Figgis strips away the gaudy glamour of Nevada's temptation capital, revealing it to be nothing more than a tawdry, neon-lit tourist trap that exists solely on dashed hopes, broken promises and guilty secrets. As sobering an experience as cinema can provide, this is downbeat all the way, but the sensitivity of the direction and the authenticity of the acting also give it a curiously redemptive feel.
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A tragic drama that leaves unexplained the self-destructive motives of its protagonists; at times Cage's performance recalls James Stewart's in Harvey, and Shue's kindly tart amid the Vegas glitz seems as much an alcoholic's fantasy as a large whit
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Most helpful member's review
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9 out of 10 people found this review helpful
Bitter-sweet beautiful film
This is a brilliant film, which defies the standard Hollywood happy ending formula which determines so many movies.
The story follows Ben's (Nicholas Cage) downward spiral from top Hollywood writer to jobless, wifeless, directionless drunk who plans to drink his way to death without anyone's intervention, including the prostitute whom he falls in love with. Nicholas Cage is superb in the role, the type of which he does best (why oh why did he sell out to Hollywood?!) and Elizabeth Shue is also outstanding as his 'lover'.
The way in which neither of them can give up (alcohol and prostitution respectively) what each of them would like the other to give up is very endearing. Perhaps if they both had quit (a possibility outside of Ben's comprehension), a true friendship and relationship might have blossomed but for that we will never know and we are left with the sad ending we are given: all we know is that both lives were touched by one-another's and perhaps thats all we can ever ask for in life? A classic film. -
Most recent members' review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Dark, dirty, shocking and intense, a great film and top performance from Nick Cage.
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News and features
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World Trade Center film a personal one for star
- 14 Sep 2006
The five-year anniversary of 9/11 was a day for many to remember the victims of the terrorist attack. Many people knew someone effected by the tragedy, as did Nicolas Cage, the star of Oliver Stone's film World Trade Center, one of the first about the attacks. Cage, the Oscar winning star of Leaving Las Vegas, told contactmusic.com that making the film, in which he plays the real life character of Port Authority Police Department sergeant John McLoughlin, was personal. "I knew a chef who... Read more
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Leaving Las Vegas - HD DVD Version
With LEAVING LAS VEGAS, director Mike Figgis spun critical gold out of what would appear to be a maudlin and hackneyed premise--a down-and-out drunk meets a hooker with a heart of gold. The reason for the film's success lies partly in its refusal to moralize, but mostly it is the strong ...
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Leaving Las Vegas
With LEAVING LAS VEGAS, director Mike Figgis spun critical gold out of what would appear to be a maudlin and hackneyed premise--a down-and-out drunk meets a hooker with a heart of gold. The reason for the film's success lies partly in its refusal to moralize, but mostly it is the strong ...
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