Many films attempt to accurately portray the true pain and loneliness of addiction, but few manage to do it well. Leaving Las Vegas, directed by Mike Figgis and written by John O’brien, portrays the fall of Ben Sanderson (Nicolas Cage) due to a crippling alcohol addiction. The film was a hit, and helped paint a picture of modern alcoholism – a topic many had been afraid to approach. Las Vegas not only displayed once-glorified alcohol use in a negative light, but also opened the door to darker and more authentic portrayals of addiction.
The film begins with Ben losing his job due to his drinking. He immediately resigns himself to alcoholism and moves to Las Vegas, seemingly to drink his life away. He meets a prostitute by the name of Sera, and they enter a somewhat non-traditional relationship. Sera accepts Ben’s drinking, and Ben accepts Sera’s occupation. This truce, however, doesn’t last long, and it inevitably crumbles when Sera implores Ben to see a doctor. Their lives begin to crumble around them, and their decisions lead to tragedy.
The film’s depiction of this pattern of romance and self destruction is flawless. We see clearly how alcohol leads Ben to push away his career, his family, and everything that makes him happy. He also chooses to continue abusing alcohol rather than stay with Sera, the only person who ever accepted him for who he was. Sera too is a tragic figure, and her life takes a series of violent and grim turns as a result of being with Ben. Ben’s story ends in a tragic death due in part to his rampant alcohol addiction, which is a real possibility when addiction spirals out of control. Leaving Las Vegas is grim and honest when showing the real outcomes of alcoholism. Ben’s life is torn from him, and replaced with a bottle.
This life, while fictional, is a reality to many. Alcoholism can take virtually everything from a person, and leave nothing behind. While Ben is just a character in a film, he evokes and displays what really comes with alcoholism. Where most films showed suave figures like Bogart or Connery sipping a cool scotch, Leaving Las Vegas took a braver approach, successfully presenting to the viewer the true painful and terrifying nature of addiction.
