Review of Leaving Las Vegas (1995) by Luis V — 08 Dec 2011

Las Vegas exposed! The film deals with two characters that are not your ordinary people. Nicholas Cage plays Ben Sanderson, an alcoholic whom has lost everything, his wife and son, his job and now he moves to Las Vegas in order to kill himself by drinking and drinking. Along the way he finds a hooker Sera (Elizabeth Shue) but not for sex but for a conversation. This turns Sera more nice and falls in love with Ben, but Ben seems to be more interested in drinking than having a relationship with Sera. As the film progresses, the two make a weird and awkward relationship.

The film is a perfect example of the consequences of alcoholism and prostitution. These two persons are kicked out due to Bane's alcoholism. The story is good, why does it work better than any other films that deal with alcoholism? The story is simple, the guy drinks, looses everything and he seems to care nothing about it. The performance of Nicholas Cage is a performance that every actor should see because I always wanted to look about an actor that by seeing him we can recognize him, but by the voice he makes, we can't recognize him. How he speaks in this movie is completely dramatic and unrecognizable! This is acting ladies and gentlemen! The cinematography is really cool especially when Nicholas Cage goes into a surprising rage; the camera only shows us one angle which it can serve as a symbol of how mysterious is the life of an alcoholic person. The script is good because they make a story and show it to you at another scene so there is a lot of foreshadowing in this film. The film's message was in one why delightful because it shows the consequences of the characters' actions in this movie.

The problem with the movie is that there are some characters that we didn't get to met, for example, the mob boss of Sera. What was his purpose in the movie? He does absolutely nothing in this movie except beating up Sera and then he gets killed. Other subplots in this movie that just come and go, like a woman wanting to hang with him, the hooker's introduction, what does this all lead to. There was one scene that I didn't get in which Bane gives Sara a pair of earrings but Sara seems apathetic towards them, Why? Does it have to do with her work or something? Now whom should we care about because both of them are reckless and we care of them and makes us dislike the rest of them due to the fact we don't get to know them. We don't know what the hell is happening to them and at the end is all like, is that it? The film lacks plot because not much happens in the film, the film lacks hype!

The film was directed by Mike Figgis. The film is on the novel of the same name by John O'Brien. For some reason John commits suicide after being told that his novel was goanna be turned into a movie. The film received 4 Academy Award nominations: Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress and Best Actor for which Nicolas Cage won. I believe this is Nicholas Cage performance yet!

I don't recommend this movie for kids because it shows the graphic consequences of drugs, especially a bloody beat down towards the anti-hero. There are also a lot of sex scenes in this movie especially towards the prostitute so be careful. If you like drama movies then I recommend this movie to you because is also a great movie with a lot of potential. You want a film that discusses the negative effects about alcoholism, about how people take away their lives into waster then I suggest this movie for you guys because is a film about how can alcohol not just control your life but to end it as well.