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Plot:
An avowed alcoholic, Ben drank away his family, friends and, finally, his job. With deliberate resolve, he burns the remnants of his life and heads for Las Vegas to end it all in one final binge. On t...( read more 
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Recent Reviews
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MCT:August 27, 2008No matter how heavy your influence, whether your entrance lights up their day, or your presence puts them to shame, there is just no changing some people. Some people are forever stuck in an abyss of self-loathing and destruction, and there is no saving them. No pulling them back. No starting over. 'Leaving Las Vegas' introduces us to Ben, an alcoholic, and Sera, a prostitute. One of them is that person. The other, despite hardship and cruelty, will manage to escape.
Ben travels to Las Vegas in an attempt to drink himself to death after his family walk out on him. He is exuberant on arrival; gleeful, in high spirits. But his face shows different, and it is Nicholas Cage's remarkable, Oscar winning performance that helps the audience separate truth from fantasy. While Ben seems content with his fate, and wanders the streets hollering with happiness, his eyes show a deeper meaning. He is alone, frightened and unsure.
Then one night he bumps into Sera (Elisabeth Shue), a hooker who has managed to shake off a rotten pimp out for her cash. Their meeting is perfectly done; writer / director Mike Figgis combines feelings of false confidence with awkward and uncertain demeanours to grab at the true nature of such an acquaintance. When Sera ends up back at Ben's motel room, things move as expected, but the actors never make it feel convoluted, or part of the script. The narrative unravels with a ring of truth and reality that makes it all the more affecting.
Figgis' direction is mesmerising. Through the consistent theme of comparing what is skin-deep to the depth people discover underneath he unwraps a Vegas parallel to his characters. All the wonder, beauty and certainty we view with our eyes is no match for what we feel and experience on greater emotional levels, and Figgis epitomises this ideal with his poetic camera style and some hauntingly poignant moments of human interaction.
While some on-screen pairings just fire chemistry, Shue and Cage take their work to a whole other level. Her performance is equal to his in many ways, and her character the key to unlocking his. While they initially swear to never ask the other to give up their addictions, their lives, one of them is destined to break the pact. The more time they spend with each other, the more we see how they become dependent and comfortable, convinced what they feel is love. But with their faults looming over them like a coming storm, it is not yet perfection.
'Leaving Las Vegas' is undoubtedly a great film. It is unapologetically honest to the very end, and refuses to brush the horror and spite of humanity under the carpet, ever while the focus remains this couple's need for each other. Is it love, or desperation?
Figgis wants the audience to endure the hardship and loneliness that Ben and Sera suffer, so that when the film's pivotal scene arises, we could only want it to end one way. That it doesn't is a testament to Figgis avoiding the Hollywood trap of happy and unrealistic endings. We learn how all good people are flawed people. How being flawed does not, by any means, make you bad. How self-destruction is so very difficult to avoid. -
MCT:July 21, 2008
Harrowing movie about a man on the road to destruction through alcohol and anything else, and the hooker played well by Elisabeth Shue getting involved in his world. Very confronting. The only misgiving i had was that it went on a bit too long.
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MCT:July 11, 2008
There's something weird about this film. For one thing, it's all out in the open. Nothing remains to be discovered. The characters are saying exactly what they're thinking, and we even see the female protagonist unpacking her tribulations for a listener behind the camera. However, it somehow escapes being awfully explicit and boring. Must be the charm of the characters.
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MCT:July 8, 2008Nicholas Cage is mindblowing - his portrayal of alcoholism is horrifying to watch. Superb film. Yes!
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MCT:June 28, 2008Wow, Nic Cage made a good movie aside from that crazy vampire flick? And one where he doesn't suck? Surreal.
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MCT:June 27, 2008
A twisted, but beautiful, story about a self destructive man and the woman who needs him to keep herself together.
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MCT:June 20, 2008
My favorite part of this movie is the fact that it was never fully explored why Nick Cage's character wanted to off himself via alcoholism. The viewer is almost forced to come into the character's life with the same info that Elizabeth Shue's character & get to know him from that vantage point. It's a reminder that, many times, the addictions of those who are addicted tend to become bigger than whatever got them addicted in the first place. And instead of being analyzed or even understood, sometimes all they need is to be approached, from the very beginning, with a caring & accepting face.
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MCT:June 17, 2008
Buena pelicula sobre un tipo que decide suicidarse tomando alcohol. La pelicula nos recuerda que no importa lo jodio que estemos, existe la esperanza de que una prostituta de Las Vegas nos quiera tal como somos. Yeah! Pero como es una puta, no le haremos caso y seguiremos siendo igual de infelices y cabrones.
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MCT:June 17, 2008
This was so depressing to watch, but it really makes you respect Nicolas Cage as an actor and Elisabeth Shue as an actress :D
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MCT:June 7, 2008
Cage's most decent acting ever. A powerful and REALISTIC film MAINLY about one of the worst and most destructive sicknesses in the world: alcoholism.
86/100 -
MCT:May 7, 2008
The Movie Is Slow And The Plot Is Not Strong Enough To Carry The Movie But Thanks To Cage & Shue's Absloutely Brilliant Performances And Vegas Locations And THe Music The Movie Remains Good
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MCT:April 21, 2008
A little heavy going, but if your a Nicolas Cage fan, you'll probably like it. Elisabeth Shue made it more entertaining. I do like Nic's movies, but this one didn't appeal to me so much...
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MCT:April 21, 2008
Both Ben and Sera are pitiful, but I don't agree with self-destruction. Nicolas Cage is brilliant in delivering the hopeless mood.
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MCT:April 13, 2008
This is probably my favorite Cage film, and also my favorite Shue film. Both these actors earned their credentials in this movie, giving powerful performances that neither of them has yet equalled. Figgis' direction is top-notch as well, as is his excellent jazz-combo score. I highly recommend this film, but be warned; you will feel like crap for the rest of the day after you watch it. Although this film is a real downer, it is so good that it should not be missed.
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MCT:April 12, 2008
Definetly for the older crowd...a story about a man who wanted to kill himself by drinking himself to death he lost his job and family so he went to Las Vagas with all his money....and met a prostiture played by Elisabeth Shue who ends up wanting to save him...A good movie not much action but ok.
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MCT:April 10, 2008
Interesting film that focuses mainly on alcoholic Ben's train-wreck of a life and prostitute Sera's questionable love for him. Great acting by all. One of my favorites...Earned the academy.
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MCT:April 7, 2008
Just shocking!... I don't care if this kind of movie is too common, this is really impressive, a lot better from what I was expecting, definitively a must.
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MCT:April 1, 2008
Depressing..a sad look at two people's ill-fated lives but shows a great connection between Shu and Cage. I liked this movie allot but it is so emotionally raw that I cannot bare almost to be able to watch it again if I can help it.
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MCT:March 13, 2008
Good movie with great performances from Nicolas Cage as an alcoholic and Elisabeth Shue as a hooker.
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MCT:February 26, 2008
This is among the most draining, painful films I've ever watched. By the end of it I was so clobbered by its bleakness and pessimism that I wasn't even crying. Most sad films make me cry. This is an almost objective observation of depression, self-destruction and the dangerous, inevitable flaws inherent in human beings. Expertly crafted and beautifully acted, this is a great film that I would say is required viewing for film buffs.
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MCT:February 23, 2008Powerful doesn't even begin to descirbe this. Anyone for some reason doubting Nicholas Cage's acting ability must watch this.
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MCT:February 22, 2008
I have never seen a worse case of alcoholism depicted on screen EVER BEFORE...cage drinks liquor like water...it's horrifying
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MCT:February 22, 2008
i love this film so much, literally, i just love how there actually is a film out in the world like this one that isnt porn or sumfin lol amazing and cage and shue are the perfect crew!
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