Review of Leaving Las Vegas (1995) by Hunter D — 31 Jan 2011

Nicolas Cage seems to be a punchline on the internet these days, most people forget the great performances he's given in favor of (admittedly hilarious) memes of him running around in a bear suit punching women in THE WICKER MAN, or some of the weak Hollywood franchises he's starred in. Nobody seems to remember his great performances in ADAPTATION, MOONSTRUCK, WILD AT HEART, RED ROCK WEST, RAISING ARIZONA, or even the recent BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS. The thing about Nicolas Cage is that he has an intense energy that calls for the right director and the right material, something like THE WICKER MAN has him freaking out and it elicits laughter, but when harnessed properly like in MOONSTRUCK or BAD LIEUTENANT, he has a presence that is genuinely mad. Nowhere has his energy been put to better use though, than in LEAVING LAS VEGAS, which nabbed Cage an Oscar for Best Actor. While the amount of alcohol his character consumes seems downright absurd, the way Cage acts is probably the most frightening depiction of alcoholism I've ever seen.

LEAVING LAS VEGAS is essentially about two self destructive people who fall in love, but can't seem to begin to make the first steps necessary to cease their destructive behavior and form a real relationship. Cage plays a Hollywood screenwriter whose life has fallen apart because of booze, he relentlessly drinks and tries to screw women. When he loses his job, he burns his belongings and goes out to Vegas with the intention of drinking himself to death. There he meets a prostitute played a magnificent Elisabeth Shue, the two form a relationship that seems to hinge on not interfering with each other's bad behavior, but of course it only dooms them further and makes their fate that much more depressing. Cage's character consumes an absurd amount of alcohol, the amount he drinks in an evening seems sufficient to kill a small elephant, which is really the only thing wrong with this movie, but the way Cage behaves is terrifying and sad, a good reminder as to his true abilities as an actor.