Leaving Las Vegas (1995)

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Because his wife left him and took his son with her, screenwriter Ben Anderson has started drinking, a lot. He's getting more and more isolated and he troubles women in bars because he wants to have sex with them. When he gets fired, he decides to leave everything behind and move to Las Vegas and drink himself to death. In Las Vegas he meets Sera, a prostitute with some problems as well who he moves in with. (imdb)

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Directed By: Mike Figgis

Written By: Mike Figgis, John O'Brien

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Julian Sands, Valeria Golino, Danny Huston, Elisabeth Shue, Steven Weber, Shawnee Smith, Richard Lewis, Graham Beckel, Thomas Kopache, Emily Procter, Carey Lowell

Genre: Drama

Country: France, UK, USA

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Leaving Las Vegas belongs to 57 collections

1. Roger Ebert: Great Movies (public: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 79 stars)

2. Existential films (public: moderated by frederic_g54 - 55 stars)

3. boobs (public: moderated by Pickpocket - 51 stars)

4. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2008 revision) (public: moderated by Scottathon - 39 stars)

5. Fuck my life (public: moderated by Dorkovsky - 38 stars)

6. New York Times' The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made (public: moderated by theficionado - 31 stars)

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11. Suicide (public: moderated by mpowell - 9 stars)

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13. Prostitution (public: moderated by Moribunny - 7 stars)

14. David Thomson's 1000 Films (public: moderated by MMAlpha - 7 stars)

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16. Filmsite.org - Sex in the Movies, An Illustrated History (public: moderated by afx237vi - 5 stars)

17. Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Best Film (public: moderated by CCLZA - 4 stars)

18. New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film (public: moderated by CCLZA - 3 stars)

19. They Shoot Pictures ex-Top 1,000 (public: moderated by MMAlpha - 3 stars)

20. Best Opening Scenes (public: moderated by mpowell - 2 stars)

21. Female Shower Scene (public - 2 stars)

22. Addiction (public: moderated by Dorkovsky - 2 stars)

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24. Lazy people (public: moderated by comepelicula - 2 stars)

25. Alcoholism (public: moderated by iceblox - 1 star)

26. Las Vegas (public: moderated by djross - 1 star)

27. Roger Ebert's Top 10 Films of 1995 (public - 1 star)

28. Music by director (public: moderated by iconogassed - 1 star)

29. The Community Collection: Every Film and TV Series referenced by Abed Nadir (public: moderated by CosmicMonkey - 1 star)

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All Ratings | With Reviews

Order by:

TCI | Percentile | Date Rated | # Stars (Reviews)

Stars	User	Rating
8	Leonardis	94 _81%
I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it actually was. The directing was actually really good and the story was a very tough watch, which makes it an effective one in return. Dialogue and writing seemed real to me. Shue was very good and Cage was as well. Probably the best performances I've seen from both of them in a long while. Obviously not for everybody but it's very well made and acted.
6	Alex Watkins	4 _70%
Excellent film. Cage and Shue both give wonderful portrayals of alienated people who need someone to love. Their self-destructive behaviors lead them both down an increasingly dangerous path, and the ways in which they destroy their lives and reach out is heartbreaking.
5	BillyShears	85 _86%
Note to self remake this with Kevin James and Vegas buffets.
5	Jeb	91 _82%
Both a manifestation and indication for the destructive, catastrophic and detrimentally cataclysmic repercussion and results of alcoholism, Leaving Las Vegas is a chronicled account of two calamituous and disconsolate people struggling to find devotion and rapture in an unrelenting metropolis. Cage and Shue give out harrowing, traumatic effort in their articulation and intonation. Every verbal communication and discussion they're in is so believable. A moving and depressing film overall.
4	saucyjack	89 _86%
Frighteningly accurate depiction of alcoholism. Nicholas Cage and Elizabeth Shue give the performances of their career in this harrowing portrayal of two lost souls attempting to find love in Las Vegas. Heartbreaking.
4	pompousass	20 _44%
There is nothing convincing about the essential storyline, not the level of convenient coincidence (the pair, before they're a pair, keep bumping into one another on the Vegas Strip, and the man bumps unknowingly into the woman's pimp in a pawnshop as well, and into the pimp's future assassins at a gas station), nor the underlying adolescent daydream of Instant and Total Acceptance-As-I-Am, nor the overlying pretense of Pulling No Punches.
3	st_fly	90 _95%
Excellent. Nicholas Cage's masterful portrayal of the chronically depressed alcoholic screenwriter who goes to Vegas to drink himself to death in this beautifully moving film helps remind you why he gets paid so much to appear in so much crap nowadays. Recommended for purchase.
3	Vandelay1	100 _99%
Very Great
3	NathanDarko	92 _87%
[May Contain Spoiler] Figgis opens the viewer a look into two different worlds. The brutal and dirty world full of violence and defiance without hope on one side, and the bond of love between Ben & Sera that seems to be strong enough to take all obstacles on the other. Ben's and Sera's destinies are linked until the bitter end. There's no happy end,but even in the darkest hour he learnt the greatest of all fellings...
3	Ayavaron	60 _54%
This is one of those movies which is obviously and incontestably well-made, well-written and well-acted but it tries so hard to ruin your day by being weird and sad that it's hard to say you actually like it.
3	Moribunny	58 _48%
I've seen fuckup-falls-in-love-with-prostitute movies before from the Israeli film The Policeman to Taxi Driver, Mona Lisa and Pretty Woman. So I can hardly give Leaving Las Vegas points for originality even though it leads the premise in a somewhat different direction. The writing is decent on average but sometimes simplistic or annoying, and Cage is charismatic and likable but his acting falters here and there. Shue may actually be more consistent.
2	ABUNCHOFCATS	90 _85%
Nicolas Cage puts in the first performance of his lifetime here portraying a desperate alcoholic. This is a phenomenal look into the life of a chronic alcoholic who has absolutely nothing else in life and has hit rock bottom. Takes turns swapping dark humour with outright depressing drama with a screenplay that doesn't pull any punches with the subject matter. Nicolas Cage really deserved his Oscar.
2	Zozan	97 _99%
Deeply touching. Off all the suicides attempts I saw in movies, read in papers or even experienced in real life, drinking to death feels like the saddest of em all. Comparable to Requiem for a Dream in terms of the depression effect it left on me.
2	SirStuckey	85 _87%
The story is very good and the acting that Shue and Cage do is excellent, so why isn't this higher? Probably because I've never been more annoyed by a soundtrack in my entire life. Seriously, does every second need to have some music playing in the background? No it doesn't. Silence doesn't necessarily hurt a film and when you have music blaring in every single moment you are discrediting the actors' performance. Let them display the mood.
2	Tharastaman	88 _76%
One of the most depressing films I have ever seen.
2	eric-jan	85 _94%
Probably Cage's best acting ever!.. and its as a drunk! Amazing story about beautiful love, doomed from the start, between two lost souls. You feel the end coming every minute that passes after the hooker and the drunk meet and yet you dont want it to end.
2	Okkervil	74 _74%
When he's not total shit, Nic Cage is very good!
2	Obdurate	85 _80%
Man, I want a drink. Of course there are amazing performances by both leads, and the movie takes some cliches but crafts an interesting story. An affective look at alcoholism.
2	redacted	86 _86%
Real look at the life of the disintegrating. The relationship isn't a real one, they need each other for theatrical reasons, her throwing herself into he pit of drunk frat boys, the dying scene, him a reflection of a life that could be worse. What I found most memorable is the nuance within Cage's character in which elements, shards of his old personality, the seasoned screenwriter emerge through the drunk haze and can even charm us, until the descent to the true place he wants his life to be.
2	hellboy76	73 _89%
Sort of familiar story but it is well acted particularly by Shue. It's actually probably the top of the mountain for both leads careers.
2	guy piranha	80 _89%
i'm pretty sure nicolas cage did not know he was being filmed.
2	rthornhill	96 _96%
Cage's most interesting and rewarding performance. Shue is also irresistible. HIghly recommended.
2	xacviant	84 _68%
I still think the core premise--that Ben (Nicolas Cage) could go to Vegas with ample money to drink himself to death AND find a beautiful, patient woman (Sera, played by Elisabeth Shue) to take him in and stick by his side until he dies--is kind of contrived, and Mike Figgis' direction, while generally strong, hints at the excesses he likely falls into in his (many) lesser films. But Cage gives a powerfully raw performance (he rightly won an Oscar) and Shue evokes love and pain beautifully.
2	wcnitz	90 _96%
Cage's finest performance and he absolutely owns the screen.
2	amerigo	90 _95%
A romantic drama about the marginalized that does not pull any punches. The performances are so convincingly gut-wrenching that it's impossible to not get entangled inside the cyclone of despair as it slowly spirals out of control. The thing is, much like alcoholism, you can see it going down that path from the first 30 minutes. And still somehow the horror of the ending is more heartbreaking than you can ever imagine.
2	TripleSH	91 _93%
Though depraved in nature, the characters in this movie are incredibly powerful. There is a fantastic story woven here, that remains with the viewer long after the movie finishes.
2	peyrin	80 _81%
The ethereal scene framing and an outstanding score really do wonders in portraying the film's main character, the city of Las Vegas.
2	frederic_g54	9 _90%
(after repeat viewings) I love the state of mind I find myself in when watching it and Cage is sensational, an oscar well deserved.
2	Bojangles	95 _99%
A movie about people who hate themselves. An alcoholic's anthem. Fuck Life: The Movie. All wrapped in a very nice aesthetic, a great repetitive soundtrack, and some curious editing and narrative techniques. This movie just kind of does whatever it wants to.
2	Stain	80 _68%
Unique film: a love story between two losers. Probably has some kind of record for sheer volume of alcohol consumed. NOT the feel-good movie of the year, which is precisely one of the things I like about it :-)
2	TheDiceman	80 _95%
Cage is a class act.
1	IcyBrian	76 _58%
Sobering depiction of alcoholism & how it destroys lives. Difficult to watch at times due to its realism, but fantastically acted by Cage & Shue.
1	QuickyAPI	81 _83%
I hadn't anticipated such a strong movie, so I was taken aback a bit by this heavy, depressing movie, with a screenplay that leaves a few holes, but is nevertheless powerfully portrayed by Cage and Shue. No idea why Nicolas Cage always makes these stupid movies when he can act so well in a movie like this.
1	irvinejump	80 _84%
Great, dark film with fantastic performances from the two leads
1	Marlinbrando	86 _68%
Sick but fine.
1	Rufam	75 _72%
Strong direction/camerawork, enjoyable soundtrack and stellar performances from Shue and especially Cage (along with "Adaptation.", his very best). Powerful film overall, although it didn't blow me away.
1	scape	93 _96%
I've rated this film at 93 - the highest of any. This film is considered Cage's best performace by many - and you can add me to the club. He plays the role of "pathetic" PERFECTLY, and the supporting cast is there and very complimentary to Cage. This is a must see for anyone who loves a dramatic love story.
1	HanekeSolo	70 _21%
Not sure how this one has aged, but I remember it being really powerful.
1	jack parsons	9 _77%
There are many truly haunting moments. One that sticks out is when Sera tells Ben to see a doctor at the dinner table. Cage's look and voice gave me chills. Great film that powerfuly portrays the terrible destruction of alcoholism.
1	Henrik	81 _87%
Highly underrated, visually stunning, heartfelt, complex study of two selfdestructive people who saves each other. A hauntingly beautiful jazz score and Shue and Cage deliver career best performances.
1	MrCarmady	72 _21%
I adore Cage, and this is definitely one of his best performances (though not of his usual mould), and Shue provides great support, but the film-making is not very inspired and neither is the script.
1	Hezarfen	65 _57%
beautiful
1	lrampartl	20 _4%
This sucked. It's basically lying around and drinking and whining.
1	Pickpocket	6 _55%
The performances are good but the story is a little dry. There just wasn't enough here to make a 2 hour long movie. Cage needs to go back to doing these roles instead of making every blockbuster that's offered to him.
1	FunkyAstro	90 _93%
This will probably be the one and only time the following will be said about any movie; Cage totally saved this one.
1	Piglet	85 _96%
Best performance by Cage ever. Tragic sort of true story(the author took his life).
1	wetwillies	80 _37%
Despite being the film for which Nicolas Cage won his Oscar (and though he's better in at least Vampire's Kiss and Adaptation, it's a damn good performance), it's the Elisabeth Shue role that really resonated with me. It's her story that holds the most weight. Love the super 90's direction and the soundtrack.
1	Ashby	81 _62%
I first watched this years ago and it was honestly not as good as I remembered it to be. The script is so awkward and rushed in places that it wouldn't have hurt the movie if they had made it longer. On the other hand, the oscar was completely deserved on behalf of Nicholas Cage, this is without a doubt the best acting job he has ever done. Shue is great as the female lead too and the two characters play well of each other despite the initial awkwardness. The acting carries this all the way.
1	glumpy_99	99 _97%
Extraordinary, one-of-a-kind character study of two disparate individuals. Shue is terrific, but Cage is the standout, earning his well-deserved Oscar and delivering the performance of a lifetime. Directed with finesse, and utilising a brilliant score, Figgis presents these two unapologetically seamy characters; their plight is all the more sympathetic because they don't play for your sympathy. Tough going at times, but never depressing and in its way, incredibly moving by the finale.
1	svicciarelli	90 _82%
Moving, sad but endlessly watchable.
1	SDPlissken	80 _92%
Although this occasionally feels like a TV movie, usually reserved for a Channel 5 week day afternoon, it is elevated to greatness thanks to Nic Cage delivering his best ever performance. By far.
1	90sCoffee	77 _72%
Comfortingly depressive
1	disconnected	83 _84%
Certainly, Mike Figgis was not counting on Nicolas Cage becoming a meme when he directed this film, and the impact of his performance has been muted somewhat by the fact of him replicating his "vast repertoire of grimaces and shuffles" (to borrow a phrase from Stuart Klawans) in many other roles since. The film is artfully made and mired in misery, but as a whole, it's somehow less depressing than my actual life (at least Cage had a woman at his side while he was drinking himself to death).
1	Paxton	74 _75%
Powerful performances but it's so depressing it always drives me to drink.
1	myfavchords	100 _99%
This is a great film, with two amazing performance by Nicholas Cage and Elisabeth Shue.
1	dalamar501	79 _68%
I actually legitimately love Cage's roles in most movies. Some may be bad movies but he goes all out in a lot of them. Leaving Las Vegas was a case of him being in a role that worked.
1	obtiosov	80 _69%
Never forget Nic Cage has a well-deserved Oscar.
1	johnfgillson	74 _84%
I had to search on the internet if alcoholism can really become this terrible. The most depressing part of the movie is that the answer is yes.
1	yvonne	99 _0%
ohhhh the pain.
1	TheDenizen	90 _95%
Nicolas Cage gives the performance of his career as a washed up alcoholic determined to drink himself to death.
1	Ptendency	93 _90%
Peliculón
1	Travisbickle	95 _82%
Very dark unflinching look at one man and how he suucombs to alcaholism and the effect on the woman he loves.
1	stevekimes	85 _73%
Nick Cage's most brilliant performance and his second most disturbing one.
1	jesselc	70 _75%
Maybe the best performance I've ever seen from Cage. While still manic and oddball there is more of a genuine, engaging aspect to him here despite playing a self-destructive alcoholic.
1	Quimbo	64 _22%
Good film, but I can't think of it without getting sad
1	jargonscott	65 _52%
An interesting movie focused on self-destruction; sadly lacking thanks to its sanitized, 'sugar-coated' nihilism.
1	tired_time	31 _2%
pointless, boring and sad
1	h_double	90 _84%
This movie turned me into a Nicholas Cage fan. Harrowing and weirdly seductive.
1	Dustyd	75 _79%
Depressing, but well made and acted.
1	twincinema	10 _4%
What did 1995 feel like? Just watch this film. This has that early-90s feel where everything needs to be dark and gritty just to be dark and gritty. Every scene of the film seems to have its jazzy score playing underneath the dialogue. This is a relic of its time. Cage and Shue give great performances, but the characters feel thin. In a joke that surely has never been done in the 25+ years since this film's release -- I wish I was leaving this film!
1	Quicky	79 _80%
I hadn't anticipated such a strong movie, so I was taken aback a bit by this heavy, depressing movie, with a screenplay that leaves a few holes, but is nevertheless powerfully portrayed by Cage and Shue. No idea why Nicolas Cage always makes these stupid movies when he can act so well in a movie like this.
1	Scubadogg	78 _15%
A very good movie for an illustration of what alcoholism and co-dependence can do to two lives... Deep and heavy subject matter.
1	nocturna	95 _82%
Tremendous film about a flawed and desperate character. Amazing performances.
1	nandorizzi	75 _71%
Perfect actings of Cage and Shue. But it is of those movies in order that are tanned only the actings and the essence of the characters.
1	helfen419	90 _89%
Too depressing to watch twice
1	Ugagerman	80 _67%
Great deep movie.
1	Cowman	80 _88%
I was looking for a depressing movie and I found a perfect match.
1	Mohko	80 _83%
Cage is great as the man who tries to drink himself to death. Jazz soundtrack sets the mood perfectly. Screenplay has few weak moments but overall it was a nice movie.
1	vlmecc	75 _51%
Very depressing but well acted
1	AFlickering	4 _59%
a gorgeously overwrought, ridiculous, intoxicated thing, as a film about love, sex and drink in fuckin' vegas should be. the screenplay is sharp with some surprisingly understated touches (the pimp's exit!), and i'm a junkie for doomed warts 'n all romances, but i wish the pair had equal footing; everything is always in cage's orbit (probably unavoidable but let's not pretend otherwise eh?) while attempts to flesh out shue and her world are a strained afterthought.
1	westknife	88 _86%
When Nicholas Cage used to be an actor. This film is dark, thoughtful, and terrific.
1	juice	65 _62%
Shue is hot in this movie.
1	Mini-T	86 _73%
Great story and strong performance by Nicolas Cage. You just get mesmerized troughout the whole movie because of this mood that the movie has.
1	mistersplice	80 _86%
8- highly recommended, great :: great title
1	ScottMaximus	95 _69%
a Sad, but ultimately...sad film
1	Scold	70 _27%
A better interpretation of two age-old archetypes than expected. Good movie; it reaffirmed my suspicions that Nicolas Cage actually can act. It dances with greatness and hits it occasionally, but overall, solid, if not stellar.
1	thesleepwalk	75 _60%
Hard to watch, but well done.
1	cheeseclark	90 _90%
Ach so harsh though1
1	graveyardtan	80 _57%
Starts out great, then slopes downward toward a mawkish finale. Still, features some good Cage flip outs.
1	Kalmah7	20 _2%
Wholly depressing film is like watching a suicide without being able to stop it. And it's just as nonsensical suicide itself is. Good performances is all this "romantic tragedy" has to it's benefit.
1	Marco_Polo	75 _72%
Loved it, endlessly engaging.
1	ImThatDingo	32 _35%
Anything where Nic Cage kills himself, whether it be slowly, like in this movie, or what have you, is always a good thing.
1	3Names	82 _48%
Wonderful character work. See it for the fine performances...
1	tathiel	85 _84%
It's realistic depiction of alcohol addiction. Cage plays it wonderfully.
1	TV+Film-Hub	10 _52%
Subtle, simple, sweet, and sad.
1	batface89	84 _48%
Very sad film.
1	Luna6ix	80 _73%
A good movie that, save for a few chinks in its armor, would have been great. It's hard to explain, but it feels like it spends too much time treading water in attempt to keep it from mediocrity, when that struggle wasn't actually necessary and it should have been working on it's strengths. If it weren't for the melodramatic ending I'd have bumped it up a bunch, but as is it just proves the time honored fact that broken alcoholic men always get the girl.
1	ted	92 _93%
Cage's performance is outstanding and quite memorable.
1	MysticRose62	96 _41%
very well done movie .. Nicholas Cage rightly deserved the Oscar for this movie , he did an excellent job
1	county_hell	80 _78%
solid performance from cage makes this depressing film engaging.
1	NeuroticErot	94 _95%
Brilliant.
1	rdwn29905	90 _83%
cage breaks through big time
1	davebirch	85 _44%
Slightly depressing, but wounderful performances from Nic Cage and Elizabeth Shue...mind if I were to drink myself to death I probably do it to Stings rather sucidal soundtrack...
1	carvalhinho	74 _76%
Grande interpretação. Grande história. Grande fim.
1	mzam35	100 _95%
THE MOST TOUCHING LOVE STORY

Average Percentile 60.54% from 3856 Ratings