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Leaving Las Vegas (1995)

A review by Damian Cannon.
Copyright © Movie Reviews UK 1997
How does it happen that anyone would want to drink themselves to death? What could possibly be so awful that this is the only way out? Ben (Nicolas Cage) doesn't know the answer but he's determined to follow this fateful path. His wife has left him because of his drinking (or perhaps he's drinking because she went?), his career as a movie writer is plummeting downwards and he wakes up in front of the refrigerator, drink in hand. Being let go by his employers provides an impetus for Ben; he can leave LA and head to Las Vegas for all of the booze that his settlement check will provide. Driving, vodka in hand, the trip is a stretched-out blur of light and sound as the towns speed past the car window. Las Vegas arrives in a rush of neon signs, dark alleyways and hookers - especially the one Ben almost kills when he jumps a red light.

Checking into the Whole Year Inn (which Ben hallucinates as the Hole Your In) Ben couldn't be happier. With a room and a steady supply of drinks he feels that about four weeks should destroy his already wrecked body. Does this sound suicidally depressing? Well it's not - Ben decides to have some fun around town and bumps into Sera (Elisabeth Shue), the prostitute he almost ran over. She accompanies him back to the motel for $500, although Ben fails to get his money's worth by failing to perform. They talk long into the night and fall asleep on the bed. In the morning Sera rushes back to her pimp Yuri (Julian Sands), who adds an edge of menace to his every scene. Her dependency on someone who beats and rapes her is both frightening and fascinating. However, Yuri is soon out of the way!

Sera feels the growing relationship between her and Ben as something strange, wonderful and frightening. They are both people in need - she is vulnerable and alone, he is an alcoholic - with the result that Ben moves into her apartment. There is only one condition: Sera can never ask him to stop drinking. In the time remaining for Ben their relationship deepens into an honest, open and total love. His lucid moments reveal an intelligent man who cares deeply while the veil of alcohol places a filter over his eyes at other times. It is deeply painful for Sera to watch Ben's physical and mental deterioration but there is so little time left to enjoy the sunsets, play the tables and talk.

The core of this story is, without a doubt, the performances of Cage and Shue. The pain that Ben and Sera feel is stunningly portrayed and perfectly balanced by the joy that they give each other. Cage has perfected the shamble of the alcoholic; the slightly delayed speech, the vacant look and the insouciance which is the result. Yet Ben just loves the bottle. Shue has the look of a prostitute and the correct defensive attitude regarding her 'tricks' (when this lets her down the results are extremely difficult to watch and painfully sad). By flinching from no aspect of their relationship Mike Figgis has created an unusually powerful portrait of need. In addition, the cinematography is beautiful and surprising while the score is remarkably in tune with the atmosphere of the script. (The only reason that Leaving Las Vegas misses out on five stars is the scent of Hollywood in the closing passages.)

This film was nominated for review by Frank Wheeler.

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