Ok, ok, let's get this out of the way because apparently I need to mention AGAIN the importance of using music to bring out emotion in a scene as opposed to just throwing in some crap to help you grind through meaningless filler footage. The moral of the story this time is you don't always HAVE to have something playing in the background. Leaving Las Vegas is a depressing love story flooded with orchestrated arrangements of that sappy elevator music that usually accompanies the climactic END of most dramas, not the heart-wrenching middle, but apparently this film was just to uncomfortable to let the power of this tragic, downward spiral pull at your very soul without having some violin make the journey easier for you. Just let the story do it's job, thank you.
Other than that, it was pretty spot on, telling the story of Ben Sanderson (Nicolas Cage), a career alcoholic who loses everything because of drinking and decides to deal with that pain with...you guessed it...more drinking. Abandoning everything that made him who he was in Los Angeles, he leaves for Las Vegas with the goal of drinking himself to death, working it to about $250-300 in booze per day for the next 4 weeks which I'm still not sure if that makes me sad or makes me jealous.
Let's let it be known that Nicolas Cage won the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance here, which I wholeheartedly agree with despite the fact that his career as of late has been one huge hangover. As a career drunk, Cage is perfect; eyes glazed over with the sweet fog of alcohol, his connection with the world hanging by a thread just strong enough to give him enough stability to walk from liquor store to liquor store and that shows wonderfully in the acting.
Ben never loses sight of his goal, even when meeting the stunning Sera (Elizabeth Shue, nominated for Best Actress), a hooker who has seen and been through pretty much everything and just as she has come to terms with where her life has taken her, she doesn't pass judgement on Ben's drinking problem and it's through that understanding the two make an undeniably beautiful connection.
Ben and Sera's “love” is explored from the avenues of respect and acceptance: Sera never asks Ben to stop drinking and Ben never sleeps with Sera just because she's a hooker and that's what she does. Neither of two are trying to help each other through what society deems is a serious problem, they merely enjoy each other's company and drudge on day by day, despite the fact that both of them are in trememdous emotional pain. Dysfunctional? Yes, but somehow comforting. We never dwell on the past, there's no stories of “how did this all happen” though we can take guesses. We just watch the two smile with each other and somehow, somehow there's solace.
With incredible performances and direction (when that direction wasn't a shit load of fucking B-footage), Leaving Las Vegas finds beauty and peace in a situation that is anything but, and for that I have to give it great respect. But alas, I struggle a little bit with a film that merely sat on idle for too long and used the wrong messages to get the point across. The idea of sex being that thing that solidified the love between Ben and Sera just didn't sit comfortably with me, seemed more like novelty than necessity, but perhaps that's just me never going to Vegas (or...not getting laid). Along with that...so much B-footage, like the film was afraid of dialogue, afraid to give the characters the opportunity to challenge each other and explore what's going on inside of their heads, even if that exploration posed more questions than answers.
Overall, I really enjoyed the film and watching this tragic love story play out. It wasn't charming and there wasn't a lot to be happy about, but this movie wasn't about that, as showed by the cute wordplay on Ben's initial residence “The Whole Year Inn” (which he translates as “The Hole You're In”). This wasn't some story on how love overcomes all, but how it comforts and adds value to even a life that has nothing left to give.
All things considered, I have to go with my gut reaction after watching this film and give it a solid 7 dustbusters out of 10. I could tell it was a movie that was going for tear-jerker, but it just didn't do it for me.
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