Back in 1990, Mike Figgis helped mastermind the comeback of Richard Gere in INTERNAL AFFAIRS, a fine crime police procedural which analysed the relationship between a straight-up Internal Affairs officer (Andy Garcia) and a corrupt cop (played by Gere). A tense, mature offering, the film certainly was the anti-thesis of many of the cop thrillers that had come before it at that time.
Gere’s other release that year, PRETTY WOMAN, was the rom-com event of the summer – and in some ways the whole decade. Although beaten to the top box-office spot in America by another comedy romance, GHOST, the film helped launch Julia Roberts into the stratosphere and certainly romanticised an industry that in other contexts is anything but.
PRETTY WOMAN was a high-concept variant on the cinematic fairy tale which as originally written by JF Lawton (who also wrote UNDER SIEGE) descended from a much darker premise, originally titled 3000 and would certainly have not been the blockbuster it became. However, it might have had a better shot at awards (let it also be said that Roberts secured an Oscar nomination as Best Actress).
Figgis’ 1995 film LEAVING LAS VEGAS – now getting a 4K reissue through StudioCanal – could well have been the manifestation of how 3000 could have been and a film that effectively secured Nicolas Cage awards across the board as Best Actor, culminating in his Oscar in said category. At first glance, his turn as Ben Sanderson, a dishonoured and disowned screenwriter, is the sort of film that voters in Oscar might go for anyway for the artistic element that these types of limited indie dramas entice people to look at.
Sanderson is about as unlikable a character as you can get. Fired by his agency in LA and clearly somebody who has maxed out his liver and heart by burning as many creative bridges as possible. he tells his now ex-boss he is going to head to Vegas with his generous severance and ‘drink himself to death’.
Meanwhile, bright star prostitute Sera (Elisabeth Shue, as contrasting a role from her performance as Ali in THE KARATE KID and later as Bobby Riggs‘ (Steve Carell) wife Priscilla in BATTLE OF THE SEXES) is loyal to sleazy Russian pimp Yuri (the late Julian Sands, a reminder of how great an actor he was and somebody who is sorely missed given his tragic disappearance and confirmed death across six months in 2023) but has to endure his manipulation and intimidation.
Serendipity brings Ben and Sera back together and they soon develop an uneasy bond given Ben’s history of drinking – and his desire to continue. The bright lights of Vegas soon disguise much darker tendencies and temptation and a destiny that both are finding difficult to accept and resist….
Amidst the darkness of this still-compelling dysfunctional romance, there is a sense of hope for these characters who can’t help being in the situations they are in. Cage reminds everyone in this film of why he was such a great indie actors before his triple whammy in high-concept action in the likes of THE ROCK (1996), CON AIR and FACE/OFF (1997), It is Shue who is the big surprise in this film, creating a tenderness to an unappealing character.
New viewers are advised caution if only familiar with Cage’s mainstream success, given that the film also retains some considerable power in some shocking moments of sexual violence around Sera that require a truly adult audience. This is not a film to be enjoyed over a pizza and beer like a lot of home entertainment, more of a film desiring to provoke more thoughtful reflection in these enlightened #MeToo times.
The music score by Figgis (with vocal contributions from Sting, which apparently was a budgetary choice given the limited shoot) is also a strength and a continuation of their collaboration backdating to STORMY MONDAY (1989), Figgis’ debut film.
In addition, look out for the ever-watchable Laurie Metcalf (late of LADYBIRD as Sairose Ronan‘s mother and who also played Garcia’s partner in INTERNAL AFFAIRS) who appears briefly here as Sera’s landlady.
Still a watchable drama thirty years-plus on.
LEAVING LAS VEGAS bows in 4K from May 18th, 2026.
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