Leaving Las Vegas (1995)

	Directed by: Mike Figgis	COUNTRY USA GENRE Drama NORWEGIAN TITLE Adjø Las Vegas RUNNING TIME 111 minutes
	Produced by: Lila Cazès Annie Stewart
	Written by (based on the novel by John O'Brien): Mike Figgis

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Ben Sanderson	Nicolas Cage	½
Sera	Elisabeth Shue	½
Yuri Butsov	Julian Sands
Peter	Richard Lewis	-
Marc Nussbaum	Steven Weber	-
Debbie	Emily Procter	-
Terri	Valeria Golino	-
Mr. Simpson	Thomas Kopache	-
Mrs. Van Houten	Laurie Metcalf	-
Conventioner	R. Lee Ermey	-
Hooker at Bar	Mariska Hargitay	-
Bartender #3 in Biker Bar	Julian Lennon	-
Bank Teller	Carey Lowell	-
Mobster	Ed Lauter	-
Bartender #2	Danny Huston	-
Biker Girl	Shawnee Smith	-
Man at Mall	Bob Rafelson	-
Cynical Cabbie	Xander Berkeley	-

Review

In the mid-1990s, a low-budget independent movie about alcoholism shot on 16 mm film could make its way to a wide cinematic release, gross $50 million domestically and end up with Academy Award nominations in all the big categories. Mike Figgis' Leaving Las Vegas is a completely unbiased, no-frills look at dependency merged with a timeless and essentially cliched doomed love story. Basing his script on the 1990 novel of the same name by John O'Brien, who incidentally committed suicide just before the film went into production, Figgis assembled a fine cast of essentially unpaid actors and went to Las Vegas to shoot much of his movie without permits – a choice which gives the picture an undeniable authenticity. Nicolas Cage plays Ben Sanderson, a Hollywood screenwriter who loses his wife, child, and career, and then burns and sells whatever he has left before setting out for Las Vegas in order to drink himself to death. When he meets the disheartened prostitute Sera (Elisabeth Shue), his plan doesn't change, it's just somewhat put off. Leaving Las Vegas makes alcoholism utterly unglamorous, and still you're drawn to the nihilism of it all. There's a certain dissidence and valour in the bewitching downward spiral Ben willingly starts sliding down. And Figgis' moody 16 mm camerawork combined with Sting's beautiful jazz standards make the experience truly atmospheric – and not at all as depressing as you might think. Cage and Shue both give career best performances, respectively winning and being nominated for each their Academy Award.