Leaving Las Vegas

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For other uses, see Leaving Las Vegas (disambiguation).
Leaving Las Vegas
Directed by Mike Figgis
Produced by Lila Cazès
Annie Stewart
Written by John O'Brien (novel)
Mike Figgis (screenplay)
Starring Nicolas Cage
Elisabeth Shue
Julian Sands
Richard Lewis
Valeria Golino
Music by Mike Figgis
Distributed by United Artists
MGM (DVD, VHS)
Release date(s) October 27, 1995 (limited)
February 9, 1996 (wide)
Running time 112 min.
Language English
Budget $4,000,000 (estimated)
Official website
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Leaving Las Vegas is a 1995 romantic drama film starring Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue. The film was directed and written by Mike Figgis, based on a semi-autobiographical novel by John O'Brien. Two weeks after the production of the film had started, O'Brien committed suicide. A halt of the project was considered, but work on the film was continued as a memorial of sorts.

Leaving Las Vegas is one of few films that presents a realistic, no-holds-barred depiction of late-stage alcoholism. It has been filmed in super 16mm[1] instead of 35 mm film format which is the basic film gauge most commonly used for motion pictures. The film had a limited release on October 27, 1995. After receiving high praise from critics, the film made its nation-wide release on February 9, 1996. Nicolas Cage received an Oscar for his role, while Elisabeth Shue and Mike Figgis received nominations for their work in this film.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Ben Sanderson (Cage) is a depressed alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter who has lost everything due to his incessant drinking. After finally losing his family and his job, he rids himself of all his possessions, and decides to commit suicide by alcohol consumption in Las Vegas. After arriving, he meets Sera (Shue), a prostitute, and a deep friendship and understanding develops between them.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The film begins with Ben walking into a restaurant and borrowing some money from his colleague Peter (Richard Lewis). He then proceeds directly to a bar and starts drinking. He attempts to pick up a pretty girl (Valeria Golino) and fails. After leaving the bar he visits a prostitute, and succeeds only in getting his wedding ring stolen. He comes home and starts emptying his house by stuffing bedding in garbage bags, and creating a bonfire in his backyard on which he burns photographs, clothes, and other possessions. He then decides to head to Las Vegas. As he drives drunkenly down the main street, he almost hits a woman in the crosswalk (who turns out to be Sera) who chastises him verbally before walking away. Ben then checks himself into a sleazy motel called The Whole Year Inn.

The next evening on the same street, Ben finds Sera, introduces himself, and offers her $500 to go to his room for an hour. Sera agrees to go to his room, but she gets confused when Ben does not want to have sex with her. Instead, they just talk, and in the process they create an odd relationship with each other. Their relationship, however, is ultimately doomed; Sera has to promise Ben that she will never ask him to stop drinking, and Ben is not allowed to criticize Sera's occupation. At first the two are generally stable. Ben states that he is "totally at ease with this." (Sera's prostitution). However, after spending some time together, they both become more and more frustrated with the other's behavior. Over time, Sera attempts to get Ben to eat more healthily but sadly Ben refuses to even notice these actions as he stumbles for more alcohol. Finally, one night, Sera becomes so fed up with Ben's alcoholism that she begs him to go see a doctor. Ben, furious but far too intoxicated (possibly brain damaged at this point in the film, due to his increasingly incoherent speech patterns) to express his feelings, goes out and brings another prostitute back to Sera's house. Sera returns home to find them together, and finally throws Ben out. Shortly afterwards, she is raped and beaten by three teenagers. After being evicted, Sera finally receives a telephone call from Ben, who is on his deathbed. She goes to visit Ben, and they make love before he dies.

Throughout the movie there are cut scenes to Sera who is explaining "what happened" to an unknown person (most likely a therapist).

[edit] Production

Mike Figgis made this film possible by writing the script, directing, and composing the music for the soundtrack. In April of 1994, two weeks into the production, John O'Brien, author of the semi-autobiographical novel this film is based on, committed suicide. As a result, the production was stopped temporarily. Throughout production, Figgis had problems because permits were not issued for some street scenes. Hence, he filmed some scenes in one shot, to avoid any police contact.[2] It is also interesting to note that Nicolas Cage, who basically played John O'Brien, wore O'Brien's actual watch, 1993 Rolex Daytona.

The film was shot in Burbank, California, Los Angeles, California, Las Vegas, Nevada, Laughlin, Nevada, and Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada. The budget was estimated at $4,000,000, because of financial limitations Figgis decided to film using a super 16mm format.[1] The film grossed $32,029,928.[3] The film had a limited release on October 27, 1995. After receiving high praise from critics, the film made its nation-wide release on February 9, 1996. The United Artists company distributed the film to U.S. theaters, and RCV Film Distribution with Atalanta Filmes distributed the film to European theaters. The video cassettes and DVD of the film was distributed by MGM.

[edit] Cast

  • Nicolas Cage as Ben Sanderson: Ben Sanderson is a suicidal alcoholic. Nicolas Cage researched his character by binge drinking in Dublin for two weeks and got a pal to videotape him under the influence so he could study his speech patterns.[4] He also visited many hospitalized career alcoholics.
  • Elisabeth Shue as Sera: Sera is a prostitute in Las Vegas. To prepare for her role, Elisabeth Shue associated with prostitutes and interviewed them on the strip in Las Vegas.
  • Julian Sands as Yuri Butso: Yuri Butso is Sera's sadistic pimp, who came to the United States from Latvia. Yuri and Sera "share a volatile relationship where Yuri is the dominator and Sera is the masochist."[5]
  • Richard Lewis as Peter: Peter is a film producer colleague of Ben.
  • Valeria Golino as Terri: Terri is just a pretty woman who gets picked up by Ben in a bar. This character is remembered mostly for its quotes during the conversation with Mr. Sanderson.

[edit] Reception

The film was well received by critics scoring 82 metapoints out of 100.[6] Such critics as Roger Ebert from Chicago Sun-Times and Rick Groen from Canadian The Globe and Mail gave this film 100 points. Roger Ebert said the following about the work the stars of the film have done, "they(characters) are the drunk and the whore with a heart of gold. Cage and Shue make these cliches into unforgettable people."[7] Leonard Klady from Variety stated that Leaving Las Vegas was "certainly among a scant handful of films that have taken an unflinching view of dependency."[8] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received 94% overall approval out of 31 reviews.[9]

[edit] Awards

Award wins
Award nominations

[edit] Soundtrack

The following is a list of songs featured in the original soundtrack of the film.[10]

  1. "Intro Dialogue" (Nicolas Cage, Elisabeth Shue) – 0:32
  2. "Angel Eyes" (Sting) – 4:02
  3. "Are You Desirable?" (John Doe, Brian Smith) – 2:43
  4. "Ben & Bill" (Nicolas Cage) – 0:30
  5. "Leaving Las Vegas" (Mike Figgis) – 3:12
  6. "Sera's Dark Side" (Mike Figgis) – 1:26
  7. "Mara" (Mike Figgis) – 4:28
  8. "Burlesque" (Mike Figgis) – 2:40
  9. "On The Street" (Nicolas Cage, Elisabeth Shue) – 0:28
  10. "Bossa Vega" (Mike Figgis) – 3:14
  11. "Ben Pawns His Rolex/Sera Talks To Her Shrink" (Nicolas Cage, Elisabeth Shue) – 0:37
  12. "My One And Only Love" (Sting) – 3:36
  13. "Sera Invites Ben To Stay" (Nicolas Cage, Elisabeth Shue) – 0:31
  14. "Come Rain Or Come Shine" (Don Heley) – 3:41
  15. "Ben And Sera - Theme" (Nicolas Cage, Elisabeth Shue) – 2:18
  16. "Ridiculous" (Nicolas Cage) – 1:03
  17. "Biker Bar" (Mike Figgis) – 3:44
  18. "Ben's Hell" (Mike Figgis) – 1:37
  19. "It's A Lonesome Old Town" (Sting) – 2:37
  20. "Blues For Ben" (Mike Figgis) – 1:56
  21. "Get Out" (Mike Figgis) – 1:49
  22. "Reunited" (Mike Figgis) – 3:28
  23. "Sera Talks To The Cab Driver" (Elisabeth Shue, Lou Rawls) – 0:23
  24. "She Really Loved Him " (Mike Figgis) – 1:17
  25. "I Won't Be Going South For A While" (The Palladinos) – 4:27

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Roger Ebert. Cage relishes operatic role in tragic 'Leaving Las Vegas'. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved on 2006-12-09.
  2. ^ Ryan Lampe. 'Leaving Las Vegas' reminds us performance counts. The Stannford Daily. Retrieved on 2006-12-09.
  3. ^ 'Leaving Las Vegas'. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2006-12-09.
  4. ^ Cage Did Serious Research For Alcoholic Role. WENN. Retrieved on 2006-12-09.
  5. ^ Leaving Las Vegas. HollywoodBitchSlap. Retrieved on 2006-12-09.
  6. ^ The score from Leaving Las Vegas. MetaCritic.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-09.
  7. ^ Roger Ebert (1995-11-10). 'Leaving Las Vegas'. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved on 2006-12-09.
  8. ^ Leonard Klady (1995-09-18). Leaving Las Vegas. Variety.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-09.
  9. ^ Leaving Las Vegas. Rotten Tomatoes.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-09.
  10. ^ Leaving Las Vegas CD. CD Universe.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-09.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../l/e/a/Leaving_Las_Vegas_59a0.html"