--- title: "Leaving Las Vegas: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/leaving-las-vegas/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/leaving-las-vegas" critics_score: 78 critics_reviews: 11 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Leaving Las Vegas (1995): what the critics said Critics' score 78 from 11 reviews: 9 positive, 1 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics take Leaving Las Vegas for what it is, a small, grim film about a man drinking himself to death, and find it more moving than its premise suggests. The praise lands almost entirely on the two leads. Cage is called honest, unflinching and, in a couple of reviews, funny; Shue is credited with the sensitivity that makes the relationship believable. Figgis’s direction is described as stylish and non-judgemental, and several reviews single out the jazzy score as doing real work. The doubts are about the romance rather than the drinking. The Los Angeles Times, the one outright dissenter, admires the craft but calls the film a superbly built sham that romanticises despair, and HeyUGuys, the lone mixed notice, sees a sentimental weepie with noir pretensions. The Independent, while positive, also finds the doomed passion po-faced at moments. The spread is narrow otherwise: nine of eleven reviews land somewhere between good and very good. ## Empire — Deborah Brown Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The review describes a grim, darkly comic tale that brings the dire effects of alcoholism horribly to life, calling it dark, disturbing, and exceptionally moving. It singles out the realistic and hilarious Cage performance alongside Shue's sensitive work and the director's deft handling of the central relationship. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/leaving-las-vegas-review/) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 10 November 1995. The critic finds the film deeply moving for its portrayal of unselfish love and charity between two damaged people, calling the performances by Cage and Shue among the year's best and the film one of the year's finest. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/leaving-las-vegas-1995) ## The New Yorker — Terrence Rafferty Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 30 October 1995. The critic lauds the film's honest and uncompromising depiction of alcoholism's stasis, highlighting the brilliant performances by Cage and Shue that make the characters' relationship believable and poignant. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1995/11/06/closing-time-5) ## The New York Times — Janet Maslin Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 27 October 1995. The film is a small, searing character study of an alcoholic's final downward spiral that works as a pitilessly observed, intimately familiar portrait. It suspends judgment on the protagonist while highlighting the director's return to sultry intensity and effective use of a jazzy musical score. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/27/movies/leavinglasvegas.html) ## Time Out — WH Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. The critic praises the film as a modestly budgeted masterpiece about a man drinking himself to death in Las Vegas, highlighting Nicolas Cage's extraordinary, Oscar-winning performance as an existential saint figure. While noting it lacks the depth of classics like The Lost Weekend, the review commends its courage and kinetic energy. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/leaving-las-vegas) ## Variety — Leonard Klady Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 18 September 1995. Festival review. The critic praises the film's unflinching, nonjudgmental portrayal of alcoholism and the strong performances by Cage and Shue, calling it grueling and challenging but a powerful artistic achievement. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1995/film/reviews/leaving-las-vegas-1200442853/) ## The Independent Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 18 January 1996. The critic hails it as a brilliant film and a hymn to self-destructiveness, praising Figgis's stylish and dynamic direction in portraying the protagonist's alcoholic meltdown. They single out the incidental pleasures, minor characters, and the lead performances while noting the presentation of doomed passion can feel po-faced or maudlin. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/selfloathing-in-las-vegas-1324541.html) ## Film Comment — David Thomson Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 November 1995. The critic examines the film's raw portrayal of self-destruction and alcoholism through its central character's descent. Thomson highlights the intense, unflinching performance at its core as a key strength amid the bleak narrative. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/issue/november-december-1995/) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 27 October 1995. The film is laden with virtues including assured direction, sensitive acting and exceptional use of its musical score, but is difficult to embrace as a satisfying doomed romance. It stylizes and romanticizes despair to the point of becoming a superbly constructed sham rather than a truly heartbreaking story. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-10-27-ca-61916-story.html) ## Eye for Film — Scott Macdonald Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 19 September 2007. The critic calls it one of the sweetest love stories seen in movies, a powerful character study of two lonely souls whose doomed romance is full of grace and empathy despite the tragedy of alcoholism and prostitution. The performances by Cage and Shue, along with Figgis's raw direction, are singled out for making the characters believable and the story hauntingly human. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/leaving-las-vegas-film-review-by-scott-macdonald) ## HeyUGuys — Jack Hawkins Rating 3/5. 19 May 2026. The critic views the film as a weepie melodrama with noirish aspirations rather than a serious observation of alcoholism. Performances by Cage and Shue are memorable, and the music is strong, but the central relationship feels cliched and sentimental. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/leaving-las-vegas-studiocanal-4k-review/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/leaving-las-vegas.md