Leaving Las Vegas (DVD)

If ever the spirit of Greek tragedy had been made manifest in a modern form, then Leaving Las Vegas is surely it. It is a small story, really only centred around the relationship of two people and the plot hardly deviates from that axis. Thankfully the two leads are played brilliantly by Nicholas Cage and Elisabeth Shue, though I must admit it did take me a while to acclimatise myself to Shue’s role. Not that she is in anyway not up to the role, the chemistry between her and Cage is totally convincing, its just that I always associate her with the brilliant “Adventures In Babysitting” and two films further apart would be difficult to find. However through sheer acting ...  Read the complete review

I couldn't quite believe it when I discovered I hadn't already written an opinion about this Nicolas Cage movie, 'Leaving Las Vegas', (1995) because it's way up there in my ten best movies list. Nick plays the part of Ben Sanderson, a hopelessly addicted alcoholic, whose life is now on the slippery slope to nowhere. We see little glimpses of his former self, as a powerful Hollywood movie executive. He was once happily married, brilliant at his job, and with the world at his fingertips. But alcohol has no respect for either intelligence or social position, and Ben is now merely a shadow of his former self, and deep in the grip of his own personal ...  Read the complete review

At one end of the cinematic spectrum are those films that are, to quote Lesley Gore, all "sunshine, lollipops and rainbows". Disney tends to take care of this end of things for us. At the opposite end reside the darker movies that explore deeper emotions. Director Mike Figgis's 1995 film Leaving Las Vegas is stuffed to the gills with all the deeper darker emotions that you could ever ask for. It's a spellbinding journey down the toilet of life with two likeable, but self-destructive people. Leaving Las Vegas also delivers an unusual love story as it swishes around and down the porcelain bowl. Toilet bowls of life and love stories aside, is it ...  Read the complete review

This was probably the best movie I saw in 1995. I really connected with the emotional themes and felt like I knew the characters personally. Here's a review I wrote of the film... Leaving Las Vegas is not your ordinary Las Vegas movie. In following the life of a confirmed alcoholic, it takes a trip into the underside of the glitzy, glamourous town. Not only do we see the damage that can be caused by Ben's (Nicolas Cage) addiction to the booze but, perhaps, in his determinism, a glimmer of whatever spark may still remain in the empty husks of people like him. Mike Figgis, the acclaimed director of not-quite-mainstream films such as the recent ...  Read the complete review

There has been many problems in my life, very serious problems. I grew up on the very "darker side" of life and since i was born i've seen how damn "ugly" and "cruel" life can be. All resulting in my being an alcoholic for a number of years. I got myself off it and know how hard it is. Therefore, i'm extremely qualified to say whether Nicholas Cage's portrayal of a man determined to literally "drink himself to death" is a valid portrayal or not. Goddamn if the man has got it down to a "T". Everything from the "couldn't care less" attitude when he's drinking right ...  Read the complete review