- Title: CANADA: NICOLAS CAGE AND ELISABETH SHUE STAR IN 'LEAVING LAS VEGAS'
- Date: 24th January 1995
- Summary: TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA (RECENT) (REUTERS TELEVISION) CAGE DESCRIBING THE CHARACTER HE PLAYS AS A "SWEET LIKABLE MAN" WHO IS ALMOST CHILDLIKE IN HIS HUMOUR (ENGLISH) SHUE SAYS HER CHARACTER CAN'T HAVE FEELINGS BECAUSE OF HER PROFESSION (ENGLISH) FIGGIS TALKS ABOUT MEETING JOHN O'BRIEN, THE AUTHOR (ENGLISH)
- Embargoed: 8th February 1995 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, AND FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: Canada
- Reuters ID: LVAARIMHWCGYJXTZMLLSHBON8MNV
- Story Text: Nicolas Cage, star of the comedy "Honeymoon in Vegas," returns to the American gambling capital for a film of a different sort in in his new release "Leaving Las Vegas." Cage plays an apparently hopeless alcoholic who, after losing his family and his job, moves to Las Vegas with the avowed intention of drinking himself to death.
But his plans are complicated when he meets and falls in love with a street-smart hooker named Sera, played by Elisabeth Shue, who's looking for a way out of her desperate lifestyle.
The two vulnerable individuals strike up an unusual love affair in the midst of the glitter and lonliness of Las Vegas.
Directed by Mike Figgis, the film co-stars Julian Sands as Sera's brutal pimp. It also features cameos by Richard Lewis, Steven Weber, Valeria Golino, Laurie Metcalf, and Julian Lennon.
Besides directing the film and adapting the screenplay, Figgis also wrote the score. The soundtrack features several new songs by rock musician Sting.
Figgis based his screenplay on the semi-autobiographical book of the same name by author John O'Brien. In a tragic irony, O'Brien committed suicide just two weeks after learning his book was to be made into a movie.
Cage believes this film is the suicide note O'Brien never wrote, and says, on occasion, he found some of the scenes "spooky." Figgis also directed the films "Stormy Monday" and "Internal Affairs," which starred Richard Gere and Andy Garcia. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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