There was potential for slipping into cliché with the movie adaptation of the John O’Brien book Leaving Las Vegas. The screenplay written and directed by Mike Figgis as the movie Leaving Las Vegas (1995) achieves much while sidestepping the central subject of end stage alcoholism in a way that speaks to something else completely.
The movie Leaving Las Vegas offers an intense and full look into pain confronted with a capacity for tenderness, sweetness and giving. The characters at the center of this are an alcoholic intent on killing himself through this disease, and a prostitute with a heart for providing love in a circumstance that promises little hope for ongoing reciprocation.
The alcoholic underpinning this story lost his family and left for Las Vegas, Nevada. Ben Sanderson as portrayed by Nicolas Cage gets to the gambling town and nearly hits prostitue Sera, as portrayed by Elisabeth Shue. The immediate impression between the two was less than perfect, leading to the introduction of Sera’s pimp, Yuri Butsov.
Butsov, a Latvian pimp being pursued by Polish mobsters, ends his relationship with Sera in as noble a move as he makes in this film. The intention there was to protect Sera’s safety, with Butsov having been portrayed by Julian Sands. This separation allows Sera to pursue something deeper with Sanderson after Ben seeks an emotional connection without physical strings attached during a $500 session wherein Sera had expected to apply her trade.
The sheer complexity of the relationship between Sera and Ben that follows, with no demands beyond understanding the other’s journey with empathy and compassion, unfolds with an unexpected compassion that I hadn’t foreseen. The psychological insights of killing oneself as a way of drinking, and the understated understanding to accept what could be offered by Ben to Sera for Sera was as amazing as it was astonishing. This exploration of a truth brought a sympathy and compassion that defies many stereotypes for what one might have expected from this movie.
The movie exceeded the expectations I had for this movie from the start. I grant Leaving Las Vegas as written for screen and directed by Mike Figgis, which experienced the 28th anniversary of its release last month, 4.25-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
Matt – Wednesday, February 1, 2023
Matt Lynn Digital 
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