Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2016.

– Interviewing Director Mike Figgis", "Cage Did Serious Research For Alcoholic Role", Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Film, New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leaving_Las_Vegas&oldid=979250287, Films about prostitution in the United States, Films featuring a Best Actor Academy Award-winning performance, Films featuring a Best Drama Actor Golden Globe winning performance, Independent Spirit Award for Best Film winners, Articles that include text from Library of Congress finding aids, Short description is different from Wikidata, Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, "Ben Pawns His Rolex/Sera Talks to Her Shrink", This page was last edited on 19 September 2020, at 17:47. Terence McDonagh is a drug- and gambling-addled detective in post-Katrina New Orleans investigating the killing of five Senegalese immigrants. [10] This caused him to film some scenes on the Las Vegas strip in one take to avoid the police, which Figgis said benefited production and the authenticity of the acting, remarking "I've always hated the convention of shooting on a street, and then having to stop the traffic, and then having to tell the actors, 'Well, there's meant to be traffic here, so you're going to have to shout.' If you don't understand alcoholism and self destructive behavior, then you will have some real insight after watching this film.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 9, 2020. yes a good film. It is also a sad, trembling portrait of the final stages of alcoholism. Cage received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama and the Academy Award for Best Actor, while Shue was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama and the Academy Award for Best Actress. Nicolas Cage stars as a suicidal alcoholic in Los Angeles who, having lost his family and been recently fired, has decided to move to Las Vegas and drink himself to death. Film acting is a learning experience about how to get over that, but I don't know that you ever really do. Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Ben Sanderson is a Hollywood screenwriter who has lost his job, family, and friends. I saw a video yesterday regarding the acting style of Nicholas Cage, and this was one of the titles which they mentioned and said was particularly worth watching. Oscar-awarded Nicolas Cage finds humanity in his character as it bleeds away in this no frills, exhilaratingly dark portrait of destruction. There, he meets and forms an uneasy friendship and non-interference pact with prostitute Sera. Polish mobsters are after Yuri, so he ends his relationship with Sera in fear that the Poles may hurt her.

31 wins & 29 nominations.

Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama, "Leaving Las Vegas and the Writer Who Didn't Live to See It", "Cage relishes operatic role in tragic 'Leaving Las Vegas, "FILM REVIEW;Lurching Through a Life Of Alcoholic Abandon", "Viva, "Las Vegas!" In Las Vegas he meets Sera, a prostitute with some problems as well who he moves in with. We couldn't shut down The Strip to shoot". "[8] Shue spent time interviewing several Las Vegas prostitutes. The only reason this film did not receive a ten from me is the voice-over technique which was tastefully minimal, but, in my opinion, the only mistake the director made. I can't imagine anyone other actors in this film giving such a believable performance. Movie Hunger Site: http://www.moviehunger.com/ Like Us On FACEBOOK: http://on.fb.me/VI9Q6V Follow Us On TWITTER: http://bit.ly/122GFRc Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2019. And I respect that there are a lot of Las Vegans who aren't vegan but I digress... a lot of Las Vegans who are not part of the addiction scene at all, and those who have gotten through it or work with those going through it (relapse/recovery cycle). [5][6] Despite basing most of his screenplay on O'Brien's novel, Figgis spoke of a personal attachment with the novel, stating "Anything I would do would be because I had a sympathetic feeling towards it. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 20, 2019. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. DO NOT see this film if you dislike feeling emotionally drained and ethically challenged, and DO NOT see it if you are very prone to boredom, or easily offended by sexual violence, substance abuse and the horror of daily life on the street. After praise from critics and four Academy Award nominations, the film was released nationwide February 9, 1996. What are the differences between the R-Rated and Unrated Version? Our human frailties. Was this review helpful to you? But it's very different. On his second day in Las Vegas, Ben goes looking for Sera, introduces himself and offers her $500 to come to his room for an hour. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an approval rating of 91% based on 53 reviews, with an average rating of 7.66/10. The Best TV Shows About Being in Your 30s, Man at Strip Bar

Title: It's one of those movies that's come to mind repeatedly in my life since I saw it. Nicholas Cage plays a brilliant part. Ironically the author, John O'Brien committed suicide in 1994 just weeks after selling the movie rights. This is an intensely sad film about love shared by people who are caught in the gravity of their lives and can not escape. A lovelorn screenwriter becomes desperate as he tries and fails to adapt 'The Orchid Thief' by Susan Orlean for the screen. It is a serious film, and a work of art, but fun is not to be found here. Because his wife left him and took his son with her, screenwriter Ben Sanderson has started drinking, a lot. The website's critical consensus reads, "Oscar-awarded Nicolas Cage finds humanity in his character as it bleeds away in this no frills, exhilaratingly dark portrait of destruction. Video cassettes and DVD of the film were distributed by MGM. Nicolas Cage garnered a Best Actor Oscar for his hauntingly disturbing portrayal of a suicidal alcoholic who falls for a compassionate Las Vegas prostitute (Elisabeth Shue) in one of the year's most critically acclaimed films. He told Film Critic: "It was just a week and a half of rehearsal. You get sick when you don't get enough. I didn't see this film for at least 10 years until after it came out, and even then it was because I had traveled to Las Vegas for the first time. It's not a coincidence that some of the greatest artists have been manic-depressives. Mike Figgis based Leaving Las Vegas on a 1990 autobiographical novel by John O'Brien, who died of suicide in April 1994, shortly after finding out his novel was being used as the basis for a film.

A phobic con artist and his protégé are on the verge of pulling off a lucrative swindle when the former's teenage daughter arrives unexpectedly. Shortly afterward, Sera is approached by three college students at the Excalibur Hotel and Casino. [12] Roger Ebert from Chicago Sun-Times and Rick Groen from The Globe and Mail gave the film high marks.

Use the HTML below. I love this movie, plain and simple. Leaving Las Vegas is a 1995 American romantic drama film written and directed by Mike Figgis, and based on the semi-autobiographical 1990 novel of the same name by John O'Brien. In many ways, that dichotomy explains the relationship of these two characters, Ben and Sera.

He's getting more and more isolated and he troubles women in bars because he wants to have sex with them. And then you decide to drink yourself to death even after a beautiful woman befriends you and cares for you.

It is one of those that you have to watch at least once, although I could see myself coming back to it later and rewatching it. I also feel like it was daring about some basic boring things that people didn't want to dramatize. [13] Leonard Klady from Variety said Leaving Las Vegas was "certainly among a scant handful of films that have taken an unflinching view of dependency". You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. And they're shouting, but it's quiet and they feel really stupid, because it's unnatural. Leaving Las Vegas, the first novel by John O’Brien, is the disturbing and emotionally wrenching story of a woman who embraces life and a man who rejects it.Sera is a prostitute, content with the independence and routine she has carved out for herself in a city defined by recklessness. Neither is complete without the other, and both are so hopelessly lost in the extremes of their own words, that the only light they can see out is with each other's smile. Having Las Vegas in the title might make you think that it is a non-stop party. Sera receives a call from Ben, who is on his deathbed. camera in my face was liberating because it's much smaller, so you don't feel as intimidated by it. A soundtrack album, consisting mainly of film score composed and performed by Mike Figgis, was released November 7, 1995.