One of the most depressing films I have ever seen, but the acting was incredible. Nicolas Cage won an Oscar for Best actor in 1995 for this role and he most definitely deserved it. Elisabeth Shue was also nominated for Best Actress but lost to Susan Sarandon in the film Dead Man Walking, but in my opinion Shue should have won.
Nicolas Cage's performance in this film is one of the finest I have ever seen. Could I possibly be going out on a limb by saying that, yes. But, it is definitely not a stretch to say that this was his greatest performance of his career. There comes a point in this film where you are no longer watching Cage play a role but you are literally watching a human being attempting to drink himself to death.
Elisabeth Shue also has a career performance. Her performance like Cage's is such an emotional roller coaster, mostly a depressing emotion but it is conveyed very well. Similar to Cage while watching Shue you believe that she is indeed a very lonely hooker who has finally found true love. The emotion that we see from these characters, whether it is interacting with each other or individually.
I like my films dark and gritty and this film is dark and gritty from beginning to end, with slim moments of lightness. But towards the end of the film it is just straight dark and depressing. At the end of this film I literally said " Wow, that was depressing" and it was. There is another film that made me feel like this film at the end and that was Darren Aronofsky's "Requiem for a Dream." While the imagery at the end of that film is more graphic, feeling I get after watching both films is the same. It also does something that we do not see very often, it makes Las Vegas not look like its usual bright and cool place.
The one thing that bothers me during the film is that I understand that Cage's character Ben has this plan where he is going to get all the money he can and go to Vegas and drink himself to death. He is divorced, just got fired from his job and is a depressed alcoholic. Those I all understand but the one thing is that when he meets Shue's character Sera, he falls in love with her and she fall unconditionally in love with him, why does he continue to drink himself to death? I know she is a hooker, but that is besides the point, the love is still there and it is real. Granted, yes if the film had gone the typical, happy, love conquers all ending then the film would not be as good as it is.
There is also a re-watchability problem with this film, at least for me. Like Requiem for a dream it hits with huge emotional fists, the final blow being the final scenes that just leave you reeling. So I can not see myself watching these types of films over and over again. I will also say that this film is not for everyone, the graphic, dark, and gritty nature of the film will put a lot of people off. Final thoughts is, dark, depressing, but extremely well acted, highly recommend for people who like great acting and can withstand this type of film. 4.5 out of 5 Stars.
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