Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
88%RT Audience Score: 85%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 Oscar
32 wins & 29 nominations total
Oscar-awarded Nicolas Cage finds humanity in his character as it bleeds away in this no frills, exhilaratingly dark portrait of destruction
Leaving Las Vegas is like watching a train wreck, but with Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue giving career-best performances. Cage’s portrayal of a self-destructive alcoholic is so intense, you can practically smell the booze on his breath. The artistic direction of Mike Figgis keeps the film honest and unsentimental, making it a dark and giddy ride into the intoxicated places no movie about an alcoholic has gone before. It’s definitely not a feel-good picture, but it’s worth sticking through for the incredible acting and mesmerizing rhapsody of self-destruction. Plus, it’s a love story like no other, perfect for anyone who found The Bridges of Madison County too precious.
Production Company(ies)
Frenesy Film Company, La Cinéfacture RT Features,
Distributor
United Artists, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc.
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Cock & Bull Pub – 2947 Lincoln Blvd., Santa Monica, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for strong sexuality and language, violence and pervasive alcohol abuse
Year of Release
1996
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:1.66 : 1
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Runtime:1h 51m
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Language(s):English, Russian
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Oct 27, 1995 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 1, 2006
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
Leaving Las Vegas, Nicolas Cage, Elisabeth Shue, directed by Mike Figgis, written by John O’Brien and Mike Figgis, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Rene Rodriguez, David Ansen, Candice Frederick, Owen Gleiberman, Richard Schickel, Leonard Klady, Quentin Crisp, Ben Kuchera, Tim Brayton, Eleanor Ringel Cater, Cole Smithey, R rating, alcoholic, screenwriter, prostitute, unconventional relationship, self-destruction, humanity, love story, character study, low-budget, Oscar-nominated, glitzy, Hollywood prestige dramas, broken people, solace, unflinching respect, human soul, worst of ourselves, romance, couple poison, new age noir, deplorable alcoholic, pitiable prostitute, interview scenes, intrusive, unnecessary, heavy-handed, MCU movies, horror movies, Netflix series, TV shows, streaming movies, most popular, leaving Las Vegas videos, leaving Las Vegas photos
Worldwide gross: $32,029,928
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $61,136,981
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,249
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 6,667,064
US/Canada gross: $32,029,928
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $61,136,981
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 982
US/Canada opening weekend: $70,864
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $135,261
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,825
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $3,600,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $6,871,484
Production budget ranking: 1,811
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $3,700,294
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $50,565,203
ROI to date (est.): 478%
ROI ranking: 268
Elisabeth Shue – Sera
Julian Sands – Yuri
Richard Lewis – Peter
Valeria Golino – Terri
Graham Beckel – L.A. Bartender
Director(s)
Mike Figgis
Writer(s)
John O’Brien, Mike Figgis
Producer(s)
Annie Stewart, Lila Cazès
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
32 wins & 29 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees, Oscar Winners
All Critics (54) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (48) | Rotten (6)
Leaving Las Vegas is a relentless downer — look at it as a love story for anyone who found The Bridges of Madison County too precious — but it’s worth sticking through for its two lead performances.
August 18, 2021 | Rating: 3/4
Rene Rodriguez
Miami Herald
TOP CRITIC
A love story like no other, Mike Figgis’s Leaving Las Vegas is a bleak, mesmerizing rhapsody of self-destruction, defiantly uninterested in peddling Hollywood-style uplift.
February 23, 2018
David Ansen
Newsweek
TOP CRITIC
This movie was like watching a car crash in slow motion. You knew there was going to be a crash, but I just wished it would just happen already, and not have spent two hours getting to the impact.
September 12, 2017 | Rating: B+
Candice Frederick
Reel Talk Online
TOP CRITIC
Dark and giddy at the same time, Leaving Las Vegas takes us into dreamy, intoxicated places no movie about an alcoholic has gone before.
September 7, 2011 | Rating: A-
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
TOP CRITIC
We’re not talking high, morally instructive tragedy here, just a hard lesson in postmodernist outlawry and its sad little anarchies.
September 19, 2008
Richard Schickel
TIME Magazine
TOP CRITIC
The film pulls no punches, takes no prisoners and flies in the face of feel-good pictures.
February 11, 2008
Leonard Klady
Variety
TOP CRITIC
It is the most boring film ever made — worse than a documentary.
April 25, 2022
Quentin Crisp
Christopher Street
The movie contains career-best performances from Nicolas Cage… and Elisabeth Shue.
August 4, 2020
Ben Kuchera
Polygon
What works, first and foremost, are the two lead performances.
August 30, 2017 | Rating: 3.5/5
Tim Brayton
Alternate Ending
[Shue’s] terrific (and Oscar-nominated), but the movie belongs to Cage whose fierce, uncompromising performance is as serious as a hangover and as jittery as the shakes. You can practically smell the stale reek of his booze-soaked breath.
July 7, 2017
Eleanor Ringel Cater
Saporta Report (Atlanta)
The artistic direction of Figgis keeps it honest and unsentimental.
October 13, 2015 | Rating: B+
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
[VIDEO ESSAY] “Leaving Las Vegas” (1995) is a remarkably potent romantic drama that permanently altered the careers of many of the people involved in its creation.
September 7, 2013 | Rating: A
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com…
Plot
Leaving Las Vegas follows alcoholic screenwriter Ben Sanderson as he drinks himself into oblivion in Las Vegas and strikes up an unconventional relationship with a prostitute named Sera.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Fresh Kernels praises Nicolas Cage’s “career-best performance” in Leaving Las Vegas.
Mike-Figgis.jpg
