Amazon.com video review:
One of the most critically acclaimed films of 1995, this
wrenchingly sad but extraordinarily moving drama provides an
authentic, superbly acted portrait of two people whose lives intersect
just as they've reached their lowest depths of despair. Ben (Nicolas
Cage, in an Oscar-winning performance) is a former movie executive
who's lost his wife and family in a sea of alcoholic
self-destruction. He's come to Las Vegas literally to drink himself to
death, and that's when he meets Sera (Elisabeth Shue), a prostitute
who falls in love with him--and he with her--despite their mutual
dead-end existence. They accept each other as they are, with no
attempts by one to change the other, and this unconditional love turns
Leaving Las Vegas into a somber yet quietly beautiful love
story. Earning Oscar nominations for Best Director (Mike Figgis), Best
Adapted Screenplay (Figgis, from John O'Brien's novel) and Best
Actress (Shue), the film may strike some as relentlessly bleak and
glacially paced, but attentive viewers will readily discover the
richness of these tragic characters and the exceptional performances
that bring them to life. (In a sad echo of his own fiction, novelist
John O'Brien committed suicide while this film was in production.) The
DVD features uncut, unrated footage that was not included in the
film's theatrical release. --Jeff Shannon
Amazon.com video review:
One of the most critically acclaimed films of 1995, this
wrenchingly sad but extraordinarily moving drama provides an
authentic, superbly acted portrait of two people whose lives intersect
just as they've reached their lowest depths of despair. Ben (Nicolas
Cage, in an Oscar-winning performance) is a former movie executive
who's lost his wife and family in a sea of alcoholic
self-destruction. He's come to Las Vegas literally to drink himself to
death, and that's when he meets Sera (Elisabeth Shue), a prostitute
who falls in love with him--and he with her--despite their mutual
dead-end existence. They accept each other as they are, with no
attempts by one to change the other, and this unconditional love turns
Leaving Las Vegas into a somber yet quietly beautiful love
story. Earning Oscar nominations for Best Director (Mike Figgis), Best
Adapted Screenplay (Figgis, from John O'Brien's novel) and Best
Actress (Shue), the film may strike some as relentlessly bleak and
glacially paced, but attentive viewers will readily discover the
richness of these tragic characters and the exceptional performances
that bring them to life. (In a sad echo of his own fiction, novelist
John O'Brien committed suicide while this film was in production.) --Jeff Shannon
