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Leaving Las Vegas Movie Review

Leaving Las Vegas is a 1995 romantic tragedy film directed by Mike Figgis and starring Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue. It’s a depressing, but still very strong movie.

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“I don’t know if I started drinking ’cause my wife left me

or my wife left me ’cause I started drinking,

but fuck it anyway.“

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This movie is basically the reverse, much more realistic take on ‘Pretty Woman’ where both characters meet tragic ends and nothing can be resolved. He’s an alcoholic and she’s a prostitute. I really liked how their relationship was mutually respectful as they respected each other’s flaws, but that ended up tragically nonetheless meaning that sometimes limits need to be put in place.

This is the actors’ movie as both of them shine and entirely deserved their Oscar nominations. It’s funny to think about, but Nicolas Cage actually won an Academy Award for this film and I think he deserved it as his role is so great and he pulled it off emotionally and dramatically. The same goes for Elisabeth Shue who’s not shabby either as her performance is also highly moving and very realistic.

These two characters are so immensely likable that it was to root for them both and for their relationship which was carefully written and developed leading to one of the finest romances of the nineties. This film truly is quite romantic, unexpectedly so, in some places and scenes and I loved that about it.

What I didn’t love though was its overly depressing nature. Similar to the newest ‘A Star Is Born’, the movie becomes much darker and more depressing in its second half and that is where it somewhat lost me. I actually liked its slower first half as it was heartwarming and sweet, but the second half was too much of a downer for me and so obvious that we did not need so much of it.

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Leaving Las Vegas is solidly, if not superbly directed by Mike Figgis. The dialogue is good and I really liked how it focused just on those two characters with the Russian pimp himself being an annoying stereotype. I also liked its cinematography and especially its very beautiful, moving score. I just wish it was shorter and that it featured a bit more dialogue in it.

Leaving Las Vegas is too much of a depressing downer in its second half, but the first half is so strong and also very romantic in some parts. The score is beautiful, the relationship at the center of it works as it’s so well developed and both Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue delivered excellent performances as two very likable characters easy to root for.

My Rating – 4