Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
Ben Sanderson, an alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter who lost everything because of his drinking, arrives in Las Vegas to drink himself to death. There, he meets and forms an uneasy friendship and non-interference pact with prostitute Sera.
Leaving Las Vegas is carried almost entirely by Nicolas Cage's Oscar-winning performance and Elisabeth Shue's deeply empathetic turn — both are genuinely exceptional, making Acting a clear 4. The plot is stark and deliberately narrow: a man drinks himself to death while forming a bond with a sex worker. It's unflinching but also fairly thin on incident, earning a solid 3. Mike Figgis shoots on 16mm with a grainy, impressionistic quality that suits the material, though it's not visually inventive enough to stand apart from other mid-90s indie dramas — a competent 3. The premise of a mutual non-interference pact between two lost souls is distinctive but not radically original; the film's voice is sober and unsparing, landing at 3 for Novelty. The ending is bleak and inevitable by design, emotionally resonant but fully telegraphed from the opening frames — earnest but not surprising, a 3.