Review of Leaving Las Vegas (1995) by Omotestgump — 02 Apr 2023

It's dark, heavy, and not pleasant to watch, but don't let that stop you from hating this film.

The acting is tremendous. Even the smallest details, such as Nicolas Cage's alcoholic hand trembling, looked so real. Elisabeth Shue also seemed to match surprisingly well, although I was surprised that she would play such a role since she was a purist.

The story, however, is a list of the darkness of the rough underworld. Alcoholics, prostitutes... As the characters represent, everything in the film is in trouble. But I guess it is a kind of message that they intentionally portrayed Las Vegas in such a dark way. I can understand that. This film focuses on the relationship between Cage and Xu, but in the background is the darkness of the city of Las Vegas. So perhaps it makes sense to make a film about it in this way as well. However, the viewer is left with a dark and sad feeling. It would not be a good feeling, because it would be piled up in a number of ways.

I sometimes think that a little more joyful stories could have been added, but this story is not a wrong approach to convey a strong message, and the storytelling would come across with stronger feelings that way.