Leaving Las Vegas

1995

Action / Drama / Romance

71
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 91% · 53 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 85% · 50K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.5/10 10 133826 133.8K

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Plot summary

Ben Sanderson, an alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter who lost everything because of his drinking, arrives in Las Vegas to drink himself to death. There, he meets and forms an uneasy friendship and non-interference pact with prostitute Sera.


Uploaded by: OTTO
April 19, 2022 at 11:38 PM

Director

Top cast

Shawnee Smith as Biker Girl
Nicolas Cage as Ben Sanderson
Laurie Metcalf as Landlady
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
500.57 MB
1280*720
English 2.0
R
23.976 fps
1 hr 51 min
Seeds 16
2.07 GB
1920*1040
English 5.1
R
23.976 fps
1 hr 52 min
Seeds 44

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by g-bodyl 9 / 10

Dangers of Alcoholism!

Leaving Las Vegas is a very powerful character drama that happens to be the best acting Nicholas Cage has ever done. We are so used to his over-the-top performances, but this role is very reserved. He does play an alcohol addict, but he isn't crazy for the majority of the film and that's a relief. This film was made on a very cheap budget, but that doesn't matter when we get too involved in the story and the relationship between the two main characters.

Mike Figgis's film is about a Hollywood screenwriter named Ben who loses everything thanks to his alcoholism. He decides to go to Las Vegas to literally drink himself to death and that's where he meets a prostitute, Sera. They form a relationship despite their issues and each realize they form a special bond with each other.

The acting is very good. Nic Cage does a career role and his portrayal of an alcoholic is very realistic and disturbing. I'm perturbed on how much alcohol he drank in the film. Elizabeth Shue does very well as Sera and we are able to feel her pain despite her profession.

Overall, this is a very surreal and realistic drama that focuses mightily on characterization. I don't like what each person does, but somehow the movie makes me feel bad for them and root for good things to happen to our main characters. Also, I really liked the look and the feel of the film. It gives out a more realistic feeling. Thanks to the raw, gritty, and powerful performances, this movie works on a high level. I rate this film 9/10.

Reviewed by hitchcockthelegend 8 / 10

Unconditional love in an alcoholic haze.

Ben Sanderson is an alcoholic, who after getting released from his well paid screen writing position, heads to Vegas with his severance pay. Where he seriously plans to drink himself to death. But whilst cruising down the strip he meets Sera, a nicely turned out prostitute, and both troubled souls come together in an unlikely romance.

Based around the semi-autobiographical novel by John O'Brien, an alcoholic who committed suicide before the film made it to the screen, this is a sad, dark and deeply upsetting picture. Sanderson and his plight has no motive, we are not fed reasons for his nihilistic behaviour. We find him at the beginning of the film joyously hurtling thru a liquor market isle, promptly filling his shopping cart with bottles of liquor. From here on in we know that this is no ordinary film about an alcoholic trying to get off the booze, we are on a train to Bleakville, stops at Love and Liberation seem a very long way away.

Enter Sera, the sweet and wholesome prostitute, who having escaped the abusive and borderline psycho pimp, Yuri, is herself in need of liberation. But can she carry the burden of both as this unlikely and almost certainly doomed romance starts to become significant? Nicholas Cage as Sanderson is terrific, very compelling, realistic and segueing from zany wired comedy to the desolation of Sanderson's death wish descent within a heart beat. Elisabeth Shue as Sera is also incredibly potent, if perhaps guilty of looking too pristine, and prompting questions of why she would be drawn to Ben's world anyway?

Shue none the less works her socks off to make Sera sensitive and believable. Directed by Mike Figgis, who shot it beautifully in Super 16 film, the film won a Best Actor Academy Award for Cage, and garnered nominations for Best Actress {Shue} & Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay {both Figgis}. Massively popular and praised on release, it has lost none of the impact that it had back then. 8/10

Reviewed by film-critic 10 / 10

Or, is killing myself a way of drinking?

To me, this is one of the best romantic films that you can get your hands on. If you are interested in seeing a pure love, one that is not focused purely on sex, but instead emotional and mental connectiveness, then this is the film for you. While others will argue that this is not the best date film, I would beg to differ. Leaving Las Vegas would be a perfect choice for a first date film over anything that Meg Ryan or the recycle bin of Hollywood has to offer. It is a gripping story of realistic love, and the dramatic consequences of giving your heart to someone. It is about dreams, companionship, and the hurdles of everyday romance. This is a film that proves that the darker underbelly of our society still has a shimmering light of hope and love. Director Mike Figgis has done an outstanding job of giving these two rich characters the right elements to build upon the "classic" love-story moments, while giving it a flavor uniquely his own. Figgis' mixture of gritty Vegas with the beautiful jazz sounds really created the ambiance of love and pushed these two ugly ducklings closer towards their transformation into love. I think that is what really captured me on this film, was that it was similar to the love stories that Hollywood continually releases, except it gave us two tragic characters instead of these bubbly, money isn't everything, characters that seem to be repetitive cogs in the Hollywood machine.

Let me explain this further. When you think of a love story, what are the elements that you consider? You have a guy and a girl (normally), they have this coincidental moment where they find their common bond, they are held back by either an internal or external dilemma, there is a factor of insecurity, and finally the dramatic ending where the two rush together at a predisclosed location (normally an airport). Does that sound familiar in any way? These are all elements that you can find in LLV. I have seen this film at least a dozen times, and for some odd reason it was this viewing that it just seemed to click for me. This is the perfect American love story told with a darker tone. While most will see this as nothing more than the story of a drunk trying to kill himself and a graphic scenes with a prostitute, I saw it as the classic story of love. All the elements are present. Ben and Sera coincidentally meet one night, both seeking companionship and without the pressures of sex, they immediately form this bond that will never be broken. Through Ben's drunkenness, he remembers her and continually wants to see her. They both have internal factors that hold them back, Sera's is prostitution while Ben's is his drinking. Even through there are these factors, they still find themselves together. That feeling of insecurity is even there when Sera arrives home one night to find Ben with someone else. It all seems to fit. Then there is the amazing ending that will either have you in rapture or in awe. These two are in love, and it isn't this bubbly love between Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, it is truths of America finding the dream of compassion.

The only unnecessary moments that I felt could have been fine-tuned were those involving Julian Sans. I just couldn't capture his character. I needed a bit more back-story or perhaps more interactions between him and Sera. Something was missing that distracted from the scenes that they shared. Outside of this one element, the rest of the film was purely flawless and even at times carnal. For example, when Sera has the opportunity to be on her own, she chooses to forgo her independence and be with Ben. Shue and Figgis both demonstrate that perhaps Sera is not in love with Ben, but instead the concept of a man wanting to be with her because of who she is. It is obvious that Sera seeks companionship, and probably has never had it all her life, when suddenly Ben struts into the picture. This may explain why she continues to work when she doesn't have to. She is used to the job, she thrives for the intensity, and perhaps uses it to fall deeper in love with Ben. Figgis doesn't come out and give you a reason why Sera continues along her path, but instead leaves it up to your imagination and enjoyment. Leaving Las Vegas felt like a combination Breaking the Waves, Love Liza, and All the Real Girls. This is a love story with so many different human elements coming to you at once that the average viewer would probably ignore the signs and see this as a depressing film. While it isn't the lightest film of the ages, it does prove that "Love is a very splendid thing".

I cannot end this review without at least mentioning the amazing acting done by both Nicolas Cage and Elizabeth Shue. The chemistry between them is rare in Hollywood. I felt that these two really made this film and were just not placed in their roles to sell tickets. Cage really felt comfortable and understood his character while Shue fit perfectly with her secrets and heart. It is obvious why Cage won the Oscar for his role in this film, and while I am sure we will never see him take a role like this again (thanks to summer blockbusters), it was good to see him take a role that really redefined the romance genre. The same goes for Shue. While she hasn't really made another film like this one in a very long time (outside of Adventures in Babysitting), it is good to know that she can take on roles like this and have the guts to follow through.

Overall, this was a very powerful and emotional film for me.

Grade: ***** out of *****

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