Leaving Las Vegas (1995)

Watched 8/6/24 (Max)

Wasted time is scarce in Leaving Las Vegas, the 1995 critical darling from writer/director/composer Mike Figgis. It’s a movie that’s all character, all tragedy, and (almost) all very credibly performed. Cage may have won the Oscar, but it’s Shue, who transcends what could have easily been an overly-schlocky script into the performance of her career. Unlike the liquor that Nicolas Cage’s Ben guzzles throughout the film, Elisabeth Shue’s performance is nothing short of top-shelf. It’s the reason to watch the movie.

This had been one of those classics that I’d put off until now, misguided into abstinence by the seemingly hyperbolized reputation of the film from both critics and casuals alike. When I watched the trailer tonight before beginning the film, I was surprised to see a juggling of tones. Sure I could see the dark drama in there, but a sort of unconventional attractiveness was assembled around it through both the setting and will-they-won’t-they character interactions. That protective barrier of unlikely-duo chemistry keeps Leaving Las Vegas from being a complete slog, despite the eventual, rocky endpoint of the road it takes.

Nicolas Cage’s Ben Sanderson, an alcoholic screenwriter, is introduced to the audience as an almost-loveable screwup. He had made it big in Hollywood, writing screenplays for famous movies before washing it all away with alcohol. We witness him lose his job writing for a studio shortly after being shown his best attempts to pick up women around town. Ben is not quite charming, but you can tell that there’s a smart, decent person there underneath the addiction fueling his awkwardness. It’s a similar level of cringe to something like Doug Liman’s Swingers. The guy keeps messing up, and you’re not entirely sure why you’re rooting for him, but the actor and performance just pull you in with an empathetic tractor beam that wins you onto their side.

Leaving Las Vegas does not feature a complicated plot. As soon as Ben arrives in Vegas, beer in hand (in car), he meets Sera (Elisabeth Shue), a prostitute with an abusive pimp and sometimes rough clientelle to boot. Despite her very social line of work, Sera is lonely, but she also puts up a tough exterior. After a portentous early relationship set up with the aforementioned pimp, poorly acted by Julian Sands, the movie soon disposes with that storyline in favor of a blossoming friendship/love combo between Shue’s Sera and Cage’s Ben.

It’s not that Leaving Las Vegas is a terribly original movie. These are archetypal characters in a back-and-forth that doesn’t zag much, it simply devolves. But though it may be iterative of other movies in terms of plot, Mike Figgis’ film chooses to set itself apart via a throwback, refreshing lack of movie magic. There is no come-to-Jesus turnaround for either character; no saving grace. These two characters are reminiscent of complicated ‘70s movie couples, realistically stubborn, not-so-great people who often don’t learn their lesson until it is too late—no fist-pumping third act to speak of.

And the kicker is that Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue give two incredibly lived-in, unbelievably believable performances. There are some pretty overwritten lines that they somehow overcome. Some risque sex scenes that their eye-acting makes more lethal then uncomfortable. Both actors showcase an unflinching ability to switch between comedy, brutality, and intimacy at a moment’s notice.

Cage, who of course took home the Best Actor Oscar for his role of Ben, gives the bigger performance. Aided by makeup and a wealth of prop alcohol bottles, he only has to reach gonzo levels of Cage intonations a few times and it’s still one of his most memorably unhinged characters. Again, it’s the “bigger” role. He’s great—Ben feels like a different, much more truly damaged, complicated character than he has played in the past, replete with some truly heartbreaking passages where Ben gets to show a fatalistic self-awareness that we didn’t totally know he had in him. That much more brutal that he understands his problem so well yet he can’t solve it.

But if you ask me, Elisabeth Shue should have taken home the Oscar. She not only has more to work with from a script perspective, being asked to do more of a collection of emotions in more of a variety of situations, but the most impressive move that she pulls off is that someone as good looking as Elisabeth Shue would find solace in someone as kooky as Nicolas Cage’s Ben. From the moment we meet her, she credibly transitions from broken and submissive to don’t-mess-with-me badass. This character has been through a lot; some of it she has accepted that she will continue to go through, and in other sequences she has had enough. And oddly, but so believably, her antidote is to spend time taking care of a kind but shattered alcoholic who is the one person worse off than she is. Despite a plethora of terrible events that transpire, and despite how backhanded the hopefulness is, LLV is ultimately hopeful in that Sera gets to see a few of the darkest depths of her and Ben’s lives and is able to talk through it in various therapy sessions we see. It seems as though the film’s experiences have made a profound impact on her thought process and, while we are unsure as to whether or not she will change her lifestyle, she is certainly aware of her circumstances more than ever. It’s a mixture of choices that really make you want to root for her to get out and make a life for herself in the wake of the final tragedy that you really hope is the kick in the pants she needs.

Leaving Las Vegas transcends on the strength of its performances, but would have been much less interesting without its athletic editing style. Again, this is a ‘90s movie that takes a bygone era’s editing and transitions to heart, with the end result being that it sets itself apart from so many of its contemporaries. This was a great era for cameras, with in this case a cool blue film grain showing just enough to remind you that you’re watching something handmade, yet wholly beautiful in its imperfections. Sin City was meant to be shot with this kind of camera— its neon signs, unchecked outfits, and flashing slot machines provide a wonderful variety against the navy illumination of the picture quality and the fever dream editing.

It’s a very painful movie at times, but Leaving Las Vegas is most definitely worth a watch for its setting, filmmaking, and above all, its Elisabeth Shue performance. For an actress who came from such underdeveloped roles such as the girlfriend from Karate Kid and the girlfriend from Cocktail, it’s a pleasant surprise to witness her blow her leading man off the screen, especially when he is Nic Cage and giving as good of a performance as he does in this, as well. Shue’s Sera is one of the more dynamic dramatic characters that I have seen onscreen in however many movies. Truly memorable—surprising that Shue’s career didn’t go in more exciting directions afterward. Here’s hoping there are still more great roles out there for her in the future.

8/10