This film kicks my teeth in in the most beautiful way every time I watch it.

Whenever an artist manages to combine and contrast beauty and reality I'm always sucked in without reservation, often leaving me wrecked but smiling. Figgis, Cage and Shue made promises here they unfortunately never kept in their later careers.

The notion of a man leaving everything behind to drink himself to death in the capital of sin is as strong as it is fraught with the danger of skirting melodrama. Figgis manages to walk this tightrope really well as he is as unrelenting for his audience as Cage's character is for himself. He cuts no corners and unveils two lives that meet, linked in misfortune,…

Film #58 of Project 90

”We both know that I'm a drunk. And I know you are a hooker.”

This is tragedy in its purest and most upsetting form, Leaving Las Vegas is a bitter, shattering and emotionally crushing story of failure, desolation and woe, it masterfully portrays how easily the glamour and happiness of a human being’s life can turn into ashes and how sorrow and melancholy can easily replace joy and delight. It is a film that attaches itself to your mind and soul, the hopelessness of its universe will surely put you in a state of shock for some time and with its morally devastating portrayal of a human being’s gradual collapse it is an experience that…

Der beruflich gescheiterte Autor und schwer alkoholabhängige Ben (Cage) steht kurz vor dem Aus. Als er auch noch seine Angestelltentätigkeit verliert und eine Abfindung kassiert, beschließt er seinen ganzes Hab und Gut zu verbrennen und nach Las Vegas zu fahren, um sich dort "zu Tode zu saufen". In Las Vegas lernt er die Prostituierte Sera (Elizabeth Shue) kennen, die ihn als erste Frau seit langem nicht auf seine Alkoholkrankheit reduziert, sondern ihn so akzeptiert, wie er ist. Eine Liebesbeziehung entwickelt sich zwischen dem ungleichen Paar. Doch Ben lässt sich von seinem Vorhaben scheinbar nicht abbringen...

Meiner Meinung nach spielt Nicolas Cage hier die Rolle seines Lebens und er wurde völlig zurecht für diese "extreme" Rolle mit dem Oscar ausgezeichnet. Regisseur…

Included In Lists:
Strong Performances - Elisabeth Shue

Mike Figgis’ Leaving Las Vegas explores the tortured souls of our world, left with nothing but a burden to themselves that often radiates around them when indulged in their devilish addictions. They stumble upon together in the most unfortunate but beautiful of circumstances, a near-miss that stays in one’s mind, and when encountered once again it becomes a relationship that blossoms within them, a pairing that becomes as deep as their addictions; his a bottle by side, and her a man to care. Tragedies have placed them within these circumstances, and it is evident that underneath their acceptance is a layer of sorrow and regret, but life forces you to move forward…

Face/Off is my all time favorite Nic Cage performance but what he does in Leaving Las Vegas is the undisputed high mark of his career. Sure its fun to see The Immortal One ham it up in films like Con Air and The Rock but his portrayal of a destructive alcoholic in this film, which netted him an Oscar, (suck it Leo) is the real sight to behold.

Now, a film about a human tornado of liquor that would give even Jim Lahey the whiskey sweats doesnt make for the most compelling of dramas, so Elizabeth Shue's character of a conflicted prostitute who befriends the broken man acts as the films counterbalance. Eventually the film becomes less about Cage's character…

I figured since this was released on my birthday, preceding me by 2 years, I'd review it. Led by brilliant performances, an emotionally-stirring screenplay, and all-around superb direction, Leaving Las Vegas is a masterfully engrossing film with beautifully flawed and complex characters at the center. There are quite a few classic Nicholas Cage films to choose from and Leaving Las Vegas is definitely among his top 5 best. When it comes to dramas and humanistic movies about real and true love, Leaving Las Vegas is top-tier stuff. This is an incredibly moving movie about two people falling in love with each other inspite of each other's socially maligned circumstances. The story follows Ben, a suicidal alcoholic, who moves to Las…