Romancefest 2015: Leaving Las Vegas

LEAVING LAS VEGAS is another in a long line of flicks where I feel like I basically saw it at one point but also can't really remember it that well. So, what better occasion than to re-watch it (or watch it for the first time) than Romancefest?

The much acclaimed flick from 1995 stars Nicolas Cage going full Nicolas Cage before it was disgraceful to go full Nicolas Cage as an alcoholic who loses his mid-level Hollywood career and his family and takes his severance to Las Vegas with a plan to drink himself to death. He figures it'll only take a few weeks and the liquor stores will never close on him.

Meanwhile, Elisabeth Shue stars as a Las Vegas prostitute who claims to be relatively happy with her life (it's not as bad as it used to be, anyway, she says) but endures an abusive relationship at the hands of her pimp (Julian Sands) who is in over his head with some organized criminals.

The two meet and are drawn to each other. Shue can't figure out why, but she likes the guy, maybe because he just wants to talk to her and doesn't really feel like having sex. Cage likes that she doesn't pressure him to give up on his deadly drinking mission. They love each other because they accept each other. Some might call this enabling, and it is. But it's also liberating.

These are two great performances, although Cage's stretches the limits of credibility. He plays a very theatrical drunk and does lots of cinematic drinking – the kind where you pour drinks from a foot away from your mouth, wasting all your precious alcohol. The kind where you dance in the grocery aisles, chug straight liquor while you drive. So, it's a little cartoonish if you think this is supposed to reflect All Alcoholics. But, if that's just the kind of guy this is, then that's something else.

Shue is more grounded and down to Earth, and plays the "prostitute with a heart of gold" not as if she knows what part she's playing, but as if she's a human who happens to be playing that part. She treats the job like a job, and has every day concerns. But, she doesn't swing too far the other way, either – she's not one of those "I've seen it all" characters you're supposed to be impressed with. You never once get that, "I'm supposed to think it's cool how cynical she is," vibe. And that's pretty amazing, considering the kind of movie this could have descended into if it had indulged that angle.

The movie would be clichéd if the two main characters weren't so carefully and individualistically observed. It also proceeds to a logical conclusion, which rescues it from any overly cinematic flights of fancy it might have indulged in early in the running time.