Leaving Las Vegas (1995) ***1/2
On a second viewing of Leaving Las Vegas (1995) I feel largely the same as I did the first time. Nicolas Cag and Elisabeth Shue's performances are stupendous. Their work here is raw, riveting, and real. LLV is a heavy, depressing film. Cage plays a man (Ben) who, having lost everything that matters to him due to his alcoholism, sets out for Vegas to drink himself to death. He quickly forms a relationship with a prostitute, Sera (Shue), and the two form a bond through their shared sorrow and need to connect.
John O'Brien, the author of the semi-autobiographical 1990 novel which the film is based on, committed suicide by gunshot in 1994, supposedly two weeks after learning that his book was to be made into a movie. Tragic stuff!
Some of Mike Figgis' directorial choices work really well, but then the emotional devastation is often severely undercut by the "white jazz" songs by Sting, Michael McDonald, and Don Henley (all artists that I like, but who have lots of better songs than the ones used here). When these tunes come barreling through the soundtrack they all but destroy the mood of the movie, making for a conflicted experience. Regardless, I still think LLV is a great film, just not quite a classic one.
Some of Mike Figgis' directorial choices work really well, but then the emotional devastation is often severely undercut by the "white jazz" songs by Sting, Michael McDonald, and Don Henley (all artists that I like, but who have lots of better songs than the ones used here). When these tunes come barreling through the soundtrack they all but destroy the mood of the movie, making for a conflicted experience. Regardless, I still think LLV is a great film, just not quite a classic one.
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