Leaving Las Vegas: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
There aren't many directors with the talent--or nerve--to compose and play the music for their films (although creepmeister John Carpenter comes to mind), and none have done it more artfully than Mike Figgis onLeaving Las Vegas. Though Figgis was nominated for both writing and directing Oscars (and Nicolas Cage won one for Best Actor) for the 1995 film, listening to his subdued, moody jazz (punctuated by vocal standard renditions by Sting and Don Henley) one can't help feeling that his music was unfairly overlooked. Smokey and mournful, it plays against the Vegas musical stereotype by underscoring the loneliness at the heart of Sin City.--Jerry McCulley