FILMGAZM PRODUCTIONS
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • ACTION
    • BIOPIC
    • COMEDY
    • CRIME
    • DRAMA
    • FAMILY
    • FANTASY
    • HORROR
    • MUSICAL
    • SCI-FI
    • SPORT
    • WAR
    • WESTERN
  • PODCASTS
    • THE FILMGAZM PODCAST
    • OSCAR SUNDAY
    • BEYOND THE BAD
    • FAKE TRUE STORIES
    • THE SNEAK PREVIEW
  • Articles
  • Hall of 10's
    • CONNOR'S HALL
    • CALEB'S HALL
    • AUSTIN'S HALL
    • JOSH'S HALL
  • Trailers
  • Meet the Team
  • In Memoriam
  • Ratings
Picture
An alcoholic screenwriter goes to Las Vegas to drink himself to death
​and ends up forming a strong friendship with a lonely prostitute.
DRAMA

Leaving Las Vegas (1995)

Written and Directed by Mike Figgis

Starring Nicolas Cage, Elisabeth Shue, Julian Sands

Based on the novel by John O'Brien

Oscar Wins - Best Actor (Nicolas Cage)

Oscar Nominations - Best Actress (Elisabeth Shue),
​Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay

Connor Eyzaguirre
September 17, 2021
8/10
Leaving Las Vegas is the film that won Nicolas Cage his long-forgotten Oscar, and is one of the best depictions of alcoholism and depression ever shown on camera. There's a nondescript unpleasantness about each scene, stemming from Ben Sanderson's (Cage) complete lack of care for himself. He's drinking himself to death, and not even Sera (Shue), the prostitute who's fallen in love with him, can divert him from his very specific path. And what set him off? We don't know. Losing his wife? Losing his job? Or maybe he's always been a bomb waiting for a lit fuse to set him off.

Ben is a screenwriter who has become a pariah at work thanks to his excessive drinking. We open with a scene featuring Richard Lewis and Steven Weber, who tell Ben it would be best if he didn't contact them again. From there, Ben is fired and decides to throw out his possessions and go to Vegas to kill himself with an endless drinking binge. On his first night, he buys a hooker named Sera, and ends up forming a strong attachment to her. Sera sees Ben as someone real in the phoniness of Vegas, and the two become inseparable. But along the way, Ben's drinking continues and Sera starts to lose that loving feeling. It's a downer from start to finish.

While I'm glad that Cage won Oscar gold for his work in this film, I think he deserved it more for Adaptation. Elisabeth Shue, I believe, was passed over and should've won for her super depressing turn as Sera. Leaving Las Vegas is one of those dark films you only watch one time, and I'm glad I finally watched it.

Mission Statement

Filmgazm is made by movie lovers for movie lovers. We believe in the magic of film and we aim celebrate films of all genres and throughout cinema history, regardless of who's behind the camera or who financed it. We at Filmgazm believe that every film deserves to be reviewed on its own merits and that's what we are here to do. Enjoy the show!
DISCLAIMER - Filmgazm does not own nor do we pretend to own any posters, artwork, or trailers on this site. We mean only to review
​and discuss movies. All trademarks are the property of the respective trademark owners.
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • ACTION
    • BIOPIC
    • COMEDY
    • CRIME
    • DRAMA
    • FAMILY
    • FANTASY
    • HORROR
    • MUSICAL
    • SCI-FI
    • SPORT
    • WAR
    • WESTERN
  • PODCASTS
    • THE FILMGAZM PODCAST
    • OSCAR SUNDAY
    • BEYOND THE BAD
    • FAKE TRUE STORIES
    • THE SNEAK PREVIEW
  • Articles
  • Hall of 10's
    • CONNOR'S HALL
    • CALEB'S HALL
    • AUSTIN'S HALL
    • JOSH'S HALL
  • Trailers
  • Meet the Team
  • In Memoriam
  • Ratings