Raging alcoholic Ben Sanderson drives to Las Vegas with the declared intent of drinking himself to death. The middle-aged, manic-depressive man has lost his job, his family, and his friends and needs to guzzle boatloads of alcohol just to function. Once in town, he solicits a prostitute named Sera and buys an hour with her. But instead of doing the deed, she accepts his real request: stay and drink with me. Unbothered by Ben’s alcoholism, the very lonely Sera turns inward to her one-time client. She welcomes him into her house and they form a relationship of sorts, founding on one principle—she will not question his alcoholism and he will not question her profession. The relationship is fun and straightforward enough until Sera begins to develop feelings for Ben. As the time-passing fling turns to affection, it becomes harder for Sera to accept Ben’s fate.
This film has me pretty torn. I actually really loved the story of two damaged people, who society has turned its back on, finding love and unconditional acceptance. Though these types of characters are often relegated to punchlines or disapproval, Ben and Sera are fully realized. In particular, Ben is a flat out awful person and yet you can’t help but feel for him, and kind of root for him. You’re watching someone literally destroy himself and hurt the one person who puts up with him, but you hope and you root. On the other hand, this film is exceedingly dreary and dark, and I don’t expect that I’ll reach for it again any time soon. I suspect people like this really exist, but while realized they sort of seemed like caricatures. Ever swinging for the fences, I’m torn if Nicolas Cage really sealed the deal on this one, or if this was an Ace Ventura performance dressed in a more-accepting, serious, dreary tone. So yeah, things I liked, things I didn’t. That feels like a 3/5 to me.