Freeview film of the day (UK) : Wednesday 28th of May

Leaving Las Vegas (1995 107min.) [Film4 11.15pm &+1)

Drama featuring an Oscar-winning performance by Nicolas Cage, and co-starring Elisabeth Shue. Ben Sanderson, an alcoholic, drives to Las Vegas after being fired from his film production job with the intention of drinking himself to death within four weeks. In Vegas he meets Sera, a self-assured young prostitute, and, with each pledging not to try to change the other's chosen destiny, they fall in love and carry on a romance over Ben's last weeks.


Directed by the usually excellent Mike Figgis has Nicolas Cage giving a great performance (sic) as a writer who travels to Vegas to drink himself to death.
With a strong supporting cast (Elizabeth Shue, Richard Lewis, even Julian Sands) it's a downbeat film but ultimately rewarding due to the strength of the acting and Figgis' sensitive direction.