Leaving Las Vegas (1995): Enough is Enough [Joey’s Review]

Even now, two months into #CageClub, I have people saying to me that they “don’t get Cage” or that his movies “aren’t any good.” Enough is enough. We’ve reached the point where, objectively, this is no longer true. We’ve reached LEAVING LAS VEGAS, which is the film that gives us the right to call him “Academy Award winner for Best Actor Nicolas Cage.”

He more than earns it in this movie. This is the 27th movie in #CageClub, and he’s had a handful of tremendous performances. We’ve covered this on just about every episode of the podcast and in just about every review we’ve written, but Cage’s range is amazing, and he’s able to carry a comedy just as easily as he can carry a drama. It’s easy to look at Cage’s output since 2010 and question some of his decisions, but dismissing his entire career because of these years is Chris “Ludacris” Bridges.

Leaving Las Vegas tells the story of Ben Sanderson, who lost his job and his wife and decides to move to Las Vegas and drink himself to death. He’s more self-destructive here than he has been in any other role of his career, but it’s also sort of a culmination of everything he’s been working toward. We mention all the time about the #Cagenections in his films, but it’s also worth noting that every role he takes sort of encapsulates every role he’s taken before.

And that’s crucially important here. Without the humor Cage brings to this role, it would be unbearably bleak. A man slowly committing suicide because his life is in shambles? REAL UPBEAT TONE, RIGHT THERE! Cage has carried comedies, though, has paid his dues, and has been on SNL. He knows how to infuse a scene or situation with comedy, and thankfully he does in this. Even when he’s at his worst, complete with makeup that transforms him into a walking skeleton, he’s able to add humor here.

What’s most incredible about this role and performance is how few actors would be able to lead this type of movie. I mention it on the podcast, but there are only two that come to mind for me: Sam Rockwell and Robert Downey, Jr. Both would kill it in this role, just like Cage does, but I don’t even know if Downey would take it, considering his history. That means that in my lifetime of movie viewing and knowledge, I can think of exactly one other person who’d fit the role. TALK ABOUT COMPLIMENTS!

As much as I’d like to see a version of this movie starring Sam Rockwell, he’s not the man we’re here to talk about. (But maybe, one day, he will be…?) The man we’re here for is Academy Award winner for Best Actor Nicolas Cage. (He also won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama, but no one talks about that if you take home old Oscar.) Also nominated were Elisabeth Shue (for Best Actress) and Mike Figgis (for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay). This movie is impeccably well made.

I don’t want to talk too much about the film, because it’s one of a handful of his movies (so far) that I truly feel everyone should see. It’s basically a self-destructive man and a hooker with a heart of gold finding one another, giving each other what they need most, and falling in love. But it’s also so, so much more than that. It’s Cage finally being rewarded and recognized for the work he’s put into his films, but it’s not an Oscar win to make up for past snubs. He earns every bit of it in this role.

Leaving Las Vegas also marks the last film he was in before we enter the “Cage as bonafide action star” era of his career. The next three films we’re watching are THE ROCK, CON AIR, and FACE/OFF, which are three of the biggest action movies of the 90s and three of the most exciting movies he’s in throughout his entire career. It’s almost as if the Oscar win and critical praise he received for this film encouraged him to try something new in the same way he’s re-invented himself time and again up to this point.

I love this movie a lot. It’s required viewing, as far as I’m concerned, for both #CageClub and fans of movies in general alike. Seek it out, watch it, cry your eyes out, and appreciate Cage for the astounding actor he is. It’s roles like this that helped inspire #CageClub, and it’s roles like this that keep us going hungry for more. Bravo, Academy Award winner for Best Actor Nicolas Cage. Bravo.

How can I watch it? It’s not available for free on Amazon or Netflix, but you can rent it or buy it for a couple bucks. There’s also a 20th anniversary edition Blu-ray coming this December!

What’s up next? It’s what we’ve all waited for — we’re headed to The Rock!