Stuart Regen Movies
Perhaps best-known locally in Southern California for his West Hollywood art gallery, Regen Projects, Stuart Regen produced two films, the most famed of which is the highly acclaimed Leaving Las Vegas (1995), the grim story of an alcoholic who commits suicide by drinking himself to death in a Las Vegas hotel room. The screenplay is based on a semi-autobiographical book by John O'Brien. The film came about after Regen read the then out-of-print book. Deeply moved and impressed, he located the author and bought the movie rights. Unfortunately, not many studios wanted to touch such a relentlessly downbeat film until Regen pitched his idea to the independent Lumiere Studios. They agreed to back the film. It proved to be a good move: Leaving Las Vegas was a box-office smash that earned three Oscar nominations and provided leading man Nicholas Cage with an Oscar for Best actor. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Mike Figgis' grim drama documents a romantic triangle of sorts involving prostitute Sera (Elisabeth Shue), failed Hollywood screenwriter Ben (Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage), and the constant flow of booze which he loves more dearly than life itself. Arriving in Las Vegas with the intention of drinking himself to death, Ben meets Sera, and they gradually begin falling for one another. From the outset, however, Ben warns Sera that no matter what, she can never ask him to quit drinking, a condition to which she grudgingly agrees. A darkly comic tragedy, Leaving Las Vegas charts the brief romantic convergence of two desperately needy people who together find a brief flicker of happiness. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicolas Cage, Elisabeth Shue, (more)
- 1991
- R
This contemporary western stars Dermot Mulroney as a Montana teenager whose sanity is being eroded by his parent's domestic squabbles. Linking up with Lili Taylor, a Wyoming-bound transient with a checkered history, Mulroney embarks upon an odyssey of self-discovery. Unfortunately, he persists in crossing the paths of people even more emotionally disturbed than his mother and father. Adapted by Richard Ford from two of his short stories, Bright Angel is a film of short, pithy vignettes, handled with subtlety and sensitivity-at least until the unexpectedly brutal finale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dermot Mulroney, Lili Taylor, (more)
