Ben Sanderson (Nicolas Cage) is drinking himself to death. While it wasn’t a societal catastrophe that has convinced him to take his life in such a drawn out and especially gruelling manner, Ben will let nothing stand in his way. Not a lack of money. Not the impact it has on family and soon-to-be former friends. Not the physical and mental demands imposed by constant binge drinking. Not even love.
And what better vista to imbibe oneself to extinction than where class and integrity go to expire? Las Vegas.
In fact when Ben meets Sera (Elizabeth Shue) on the Vegas strip he quickly realises that his financial proposition of sexual relations is in fact something his already failing body cannot fulfil, regardless of the signals his brain attempts in vain to send south. But he enjoys the chat with a pretty girl. And for her part Sera likes the companionship of another fractured soul without the physical demands, even though it will likely cause reprisals from Yuri (Julian Sands) her sleazy and dangerous European pimp.
Despite their differing hopes for the future, Ben and Sera forge an awkward but sincere relationship built on juxtaposing needs. Ben enjoys someone who listens to his drunken babbling, and Sera enjoys the human contact without the daily financially driven carnality.
Now some partners get shirty when their partner has one too many drinks at the office Christmas party, rarely do they then French kiss the drunk who arrives home with a mouthful of blood and broken teeth. Still, even though there exists the ‘don’t try to change me’ relationship between Ben and Sera, when the ‘fun’ is removed from ‘functioning alcoholic’ things go downhill fast.
Leaving Las Vegas is (I imagine) like watching someone drink themselves to death, long, painful and powerful, with the overriding urge to step in and to try to talk reason.
The love story, however incongruous in reality, is well realised, just two broken individuals who bond fast and want only the best for each other, even when they refuse to take steps to improve their own position.
Ultimately though it seems like Sera makes the same decisions Dorothy in Men Behaving Badly (a tonally different enterprise I freely acknowledge) when she looks at Ben and thinks “I just want someone I can feel superior to”.
Sometimes the easier path to perceived success is to aim lower. For all of his fallibilities at least Ben adheres to his own incredibly sad goals.
Final Rating – 7 / 10. Well made. Well acted. Impossible to understand.
