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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Leaving Las Vegas
Universal acclaim
Based on 23 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 19 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by:
John O'Brien (novel)
Mike Figgis
Directed by: Mike Figgis
Release Date:
Theatrical: October 27, 1995
DVD: February 24, 1998
Running Time: 111 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for strong sexuality and language, violence and pervasive alcohol abuse
Starring Nicolas Cage, Elisabeth Shue, Julian Sands, Richard Lewis, and Steven Weber
After being fired, an alcoholic screenwriter (Cage) takes his final paycheck to Las Vegas where he plans to drink himself to death. He comes in contact with a prostitute (Shue) who needs to be needed.
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Cold Creek Manor Hotel Miss Julie The Loss of Sexual Innocence Time Code
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Cage and Shue make these cliches into unforgettable people.
Read Full Review >Variety Leonard Klady
The film pulls no punches, takes no prisoners and flies in the face of feel-good pictures.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
At best, Leaving Las Vegas is pure alchemy -- it makes of flawed humanity a hymn, and of forlorn hope a beacon.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Dark and giddy at the same time, Leaving Las Vegas takes us into dreamy, intoxicated places that no movie about an alcoholic has gone before.
Read Full Review >Film.com Robert Horton
Furiously uncompromising, and therefore absolutely alive.
Newsweek David Ansen
Anyone who cares about ravishing filmmaking, superb acting and movies willing to dive into the mystery of unconditional love will leave this dark romance both shaken and invigorated.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Elvis Mitchell
Mr. Cage digs deep to find his character's inner demons while also capturing the riotous energy of his outward charm. [27 October 1995, p. C3]
Film.com Keith Simanton
Stands on its grim integrity and the astonishing performances of the leads.
Rolling Stone Peter Travers
A uniquely hypnotic and haunting love story sparked by Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue at their career best.
Film.com Sean Means
Cage again proves himself the most fearless actor now working in movies.
ReelViews James Berardinelli
Draws its audience along a rarely-traveled path whose scope can only be fully appreciated in the silence of the aftermath.
Read Full Review >Mr. Showbiz Anne Harris
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.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
I don't see how you can get away from calling Cage’s performance a great one. [10 November 1995, Friday, p.C]
Washington Post Desson Thomson
What keeps the film (adapted from the late John O'Brien's harrowing semi-autobiographical book) from being completely unbearable are the extraordinary performances.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
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.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
Cage's great performance is matched by Shue, who becomes the focus by the middle of the picture.
Read Full Review >USA Today Mike Clark
Deliberately downbeat, it's best as a two-person character study, stumbling a bit whenever it extends its parameters.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Beautifully put together, sensitively acted by Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue, directed by Mike Figgis with assurance and style and making exceptional use of its musical score, this doomed romance is finally not as satisfying as all of that would have you believe.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
Needless to say, the plot goes nowhere, but under the pornographic circumstances Figgis, Cage, and Shue all do fine jobs.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Examiner G. Allen Johnson
Nicolas Cage gives one of the best performances of his strange, courageous career.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Harlan Jacobson
Leaving Las Vegas is special. A courageous plane wreck of character study.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Schickel
A movie that may be just a bit too pleased with its own artful bleakness.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.1 (out of 10) based on 19 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Harold P. gave it a10:
Won't say it's the finest movie ever made, but it's my favorite ever. This film haunts me days after I watch it. Elisabeth Shue's tragic beauty is almost too much to bear. If you've ever loved and lost you understand what I mean.... This is Nicolas Cage's best performance, it's clear he knows his way around the bottle. Depressing, yes, ultimately uplifting...no. Just a small window into the lives of two hurt souls who finally find a lover and friend, even if they both know it's much too late...awesome.
Ted K. gave it an8:
Cage's performance is mesmerizing. This movie will resonate with anyone who has struggled with alcoholism. It can be a downer but the film--and Cage in particular--is so memorable that it's worth watching.
Job A. gave it a10:
I've seen this movie probably 30 times.The acting by cage is really unbelievable.Who ever doesn't like this movie never really paid attention to the amazing story and acting.A work of art.
Tracy R gave it a10:
An uncompromising, unsentimental poem. Perfectly done for what it is.
Captain Craig gave it a0:
Depressing, miserable production about two people to enable their adictions. No redeaming value whatsoever. Im boycotting Nick Nolte films in revenge for making me suffer thru this.
Trent m. gave it a 10:
Awesome!!!
Andrew M. gave it a 5:
This film is both good and bad. It wants to show how a man can descend into the purgatory existence of alcoholism. How relationships are strained, tortured and destroyed by such an existence. How realism becomes shadowed and warped by this lifestyle. And how the world itself reacts to such a degraded life. In these veins, the movie is good and it succeeds. The question is: moralising aside, who wants to watch this?...who wants to be willingly dragged down into this hell?...I didn't, but I was. The film didn't make me care; it was too ugly, too dark, too cold. In this way, it was bad. Some will say, so, that is how it is, that is reality! Well, I think you can paint reality in several different ways, all to get the same points across each time. I took several things out of this film...beneficial, enlightening things!...but I believe if the film had been made better, brighter, it might have made me actually care about these things.
