Leaving Las Vegas

At best, Leaving Las Vegas is pure alchemy -- it makes of flawed humanity a hymn, and of forlorn hope a beacon.

Furiously uncompromising, and therefore absolutely alive.

Mr. Cage digs deep to find his character's inner demons while also capturing the riotous energy of his outward charm.

Leaving Las Vegas may not be a top choice for an upbeat outing, but there's something oddly poetic about the simplicity of Ben's mission and Sera's acceptance of it.

An amazing, bracing, funny, audacious, tender, and sobering piece of filmmaking. Few movies have ever dared to be this remorseless in their portraits of addiction.

Needless to say, the plot goes nowhere, but under the pornographic circumstances Figgis, Cage, and Shue all do fine jobs.

A movie that may be just a bit too pleased with its own artful bleakness.

L'histoire d'un poivrot qui veut se suicider à l'alcool et qui se bourre donc la gueule à en crever à Las Vegas en compagnie d'une pute esseulée... Lui ne veut pas arrêter de picoler, elle ne veut point cesser de faire le tapin : c'est là tout le drame de cette idylle naissante, de cette Bouteille Story, entre deux êtres qui auraient pu être heureux ensemble s'ils étaient restés "normaux" mais qui ne se seraient jamais rencontrés s'ils n'étaient pas déjà tous les deux des épaves... Nicolas Cage est impérial, la musique jazz est superbe, Elisabeth Shue est radieuse de maturité, la photographie est belle et l'ambiance est extraordinaire : ce n'est donc pas le chiantissime Mort à Venise mais le formidable Glou-glou à Vegas, ville aussi brillante que décadente, où tout n'est qu'illusion et désenchantement...

It's deep, surreal, and offers a kind of operatic ecstasy that is both wonderful and heartbreaking at the same time. Nicholas Cage and Elisabeth Shue also deliver flawless performances.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

This is the first movie that has positive reviews and I give it a mixed review. I think the movie is well acted (Nicolas Cage nails it) but the rest of movie is entirely depressing, with no compelling characters or storytelling

Dreadfully-written story with one-note characters who aren't performed well. The script is written as a romantic drama but feels like a dark comedy. As far as unintentionally funny Nicolas Cage performances go, this one is pretty decent. Don't expect a nuanced portrayal of alcoholism here, it's just belligerent behavior that would be best suited for a comedy. All of the hype comes from the director using 16mm film which gave it an arthouse look at a time when that wasn't commonplace. This movie has nothing else going for it. The moments without Cage are vapid, boring, and/or unnecessarily depressing. Overall, I'd say this film is what The Room could've been with a bigger budget. It makes about as much sense and has just as much artistic merit.