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• Trivia (9)
• Plot Description
• Soundtrack
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Release Date
• USA: Oct 27, 1995
DVD Release Date
• R1: Feb 24, 1998
• R2: 24 Jan 2000
Budget $4,000,000
MPAA Rating
Rated R for strong sexuality and language, violence and pervasive alcohol abuse.
Running Time
1 hour, 51 minutes
Country USA, France
Studio MGM/United Artists
More info on IMDb.com
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Genre: Romance, Drama, Love, Prostitution, Tragedy, Disturbing, Psychodrama, Gangsters, Thieves, Infidelity, Tear Jerker, Cult Classic, Drugs
Plot: With LEAVING LAS VEGAS, director Mike Figgis spun critical gold out of what would appear to be a maudlin and hackneyed premise--a down-and-out drunk meets a hooker with a heart of gold. The reason for the film's success lies partly in its refusal to moralize, but mostly it is the strong performances of Nicholas Cage and Elisabeth Shue that make the story believable and poignant. Ben Sanderson (Cage) is a Hollywood screenwriter who has become an alcoholic. After being fired, he takes his severance pay to Las Vegas, where he plans to drink himself to death. There he meets Sera (Shue), a streetwise prostitute who responds both to Ben's wild antics and to his absolute gentleness. What Sera needs most is to be needed, and Ben needs her a lot. Figgis uses his whole bag of tricks--Sera talks to the camera, the exteriors are shot in grainy 16mm--but finally it is the perfectly-conceived relationship between these two wounded people that drew the rave reviews. The film was based on a novel by John O'Brien.
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 Discussion forum for this movie
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| Directed by |
Mike Figgis
Cold Creek Manor, Timecode, Internal Affairs |
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| Written by |
Mike Figgis
Cold Creek Manor, Timecode, Internal Affairs |
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| Cast |
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 | Elisabeth Shue
Back to the Future Part II, Back to the Future Part III, Hollow Man |
 | Julian Sands
Arachnophobia, The Killing Fields, A Room with a View |
 | Steven Weber
Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Single White Female, At First Sight |
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 | Carey Lowell
Sleepless in Seattle, Licence to Kill, Fierce Creatures |
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| Music By |
Mike Figgis
Cold Creek Manor, Timecode, Internal Affairs |
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