...A romantic way to go...if there was such a way. But Ben never used to be like that. At the start of this neon soaked masterpiece we see Ben ridding himself of the last remnants of family life and leaving it all behind for the drink. We see a photo of himself, his wife and his son before the drink had a grip on him. You could say that Ben had it all but he was always chasing something more elusive - that his family could not provide him. Things fell down for him like dominoes, his friends, his job, his family...everything......but the drink was always there like a loyal friend. Ben was a man that could not be stopped....he was pushing that self-destruct button hard an that is how it was for Ben.Sera with an "E". S-E-R-A....on the other hand was a lonely prostitute who you always felt was always striving to feel loved - loved in the context of something more deeper or spiritual and not the kind of superficial 'love' she was getting from her clients, No, she always was seeking to be loved by the men in her life.On the outset this doesn't seem like you typical romantic flick but there is something oddly romantic about it nonetheless. Especially considering they are both on the fast track to oblivion. They hadn't much but at least they had each other....but not for long - something had to give in this high inflammable relationship. You could see where the relationship was going but that didn't make it any easier.'Sting' provides us with the Jazzy soundtrack that really gives the film an extra boost and sets up the atmosphere nicely in Sin City. Nicolas Cage in his best performance of his career plays a great drunk and Elisabeth Shue should have won an academy award for her portrayal of a lost soul. 'Leaving Las Vegas' is a deeply sad portrayal of a man who once had it all - he is perceptive of his situation and he knows what he wants and in that same breath it is a romantic way to go.

"Leaving Las Vegas" is about two sides of the same coin that need each other to feel complete. It is hard hitting and incredibly realistic. Nicolas Cage is perfectly cast for his crazy acting style as a raging alcoholic, and he gives an incredibly heart rending and accurate performance. Elisabeth Shue gives the performance of her career as a desperate and abused prostitute that begins to cling to Cage in his final, suffering days.Ben Sanderson is a failed screenwriter that once had a wife and a kid, but is now an alcoholic. He drinks when he wakes up and drinks himself to sleep everyday. When he doesn't get a drink, he goes into withdrawal. It is unclear whether he was a drunk before or after his wife left him, but it seems he no longer remembers nor cares. He is hopeless, and knows this, but when he is fired from his job, he decides to finally just leave everything behind and move to Las Vegas. He gets a room in a hotel called "The Whole Year Inn", or as he sees it, "The Hole You're In".Here he meets Sera, a hooker who is abused by her boss, but convinces herself that her life is just as good as she wants it to be. She says that every man she sleeps with is like a performance, she becomes whoever they want her to be. This is until Ben pays her and invites her to his hotel room. However, Ben doesn't want to have sex with her. They stay up and just talk, and Sera accidentally falls asleep and spends the night. But she finds that she was herself around another human being for the first time that night. She knew that Ben was hopeless, and he made her feel wanted and not alone. Once her abusive boss is killed, she starts to go out more with Ben. She invites him into her home, and he agrees to stay, only after telling her what she will have to deal with. She feels truly loved by him, and most importantly, not alone. She knows that she can't stop his alcoholism, and he knows that he can't stop her being a hooker. They have both dug themselves into that hole, and no matter how much abuse they take, they can't get out. And the only ones that could possibly put up with their lifestyles, is each other. Or, at first, at least. Their lifestyles begin to tear each other apart. Sera knows that Ben will die and Ben knows Sera is with other men. They are torn apart, and Sera has a horrible night in which she is abused and raped by some teenagers. She is kicked out of her house, and she realizes that she is powerless and lost without Ben. She finds Ben as he is on his deathbed, and in Bens final moments, he has sex with her, showing that he truly loves her, and accepted that she won't change. And Sera doesn't try to help Ben, showing she accepts that he won't change. Ben dies and Sera lives on without him, but Sera knew that it would happen eventually. The film is depressing, but it is unwavering in its harsh depiction of the hole these characters are in. It knows that the only way for them to leave Las Vegas is to die. They needed each other to be complete, but their relationship was doomed from the start because of the position they were each in. It is almost completely hopeless and the characters only get more depressed and cynical, but thats the way it needs to be. This film is to alcohol, as "Requiem for a Dream" is to drugs.

Hollywood screenwriter Ben Sanderson (Nicolas Cage) is a hopeless drunk and self-destructing. He loses his job and his family. He decides to destroy everything in his home, drive to Las Vegas and drink himself to death. He runs into call girl Sera (Elisabeth Shue) and hires her. Her abusive pimp Yuri (Julian Sands) had followed her out from L.A. He's broke and on the run from a gang. Ben and Sera begin a relationship accepting each other's flaws. However these flaws overtake them in the end.This is a movie about a drunk and a hooker with a heart of gold. Cage and Shue make this more than the simple cliché it sounds like. They infuse these characters with humanity. They give two great performances.

A suicidal drunk and an abused street whore meet entirely by chance and form a relationship. Such a premise for a story seems contrived, but in this movie its believable. The drunk, played by Nicholas Cage, and the whore, played by Elisabeth Shue, do not come off as caricatures. As a result, the story is engaging. These two characters are worth caring about. They are troubled, needy, alone, angry, yet form an attachment that is the basis of the story. Setting the story in Las Vegas gives the story an even more austere quality. The lights of the strip are in stark contrast to the darkness and gloominess of their lives. Now, the movie also includes a third "character", alcohol. This movie captures the ugliness and destructiveness of drinking. As Ben keeps drinking his behavior gets more erratic. This drives Sera to do even more whoring. Although they assured each other that they were okay with the respective drinking and whoring, it soon becomes apparent that both are deeply bothered and hurt by what the other is doing and want them to stop. That's because they love each other. To find out how they work it out, watch the movie. Excellent acting, excellent story, stunningly beautiful cinematography. This is Nicholas Cage's best movie. As for Elisabeth Shue, her performance is stellar.