For those of you unfortunate enough to have actually paid to see 1994's Trapped in Paradise, there is comfort in knowing that it could have been worse.
Your life was diminished for only a couple of hours. Consider the plight of Nicolas Cage. The poor guy was in the stupid movie, which was filmed during the coldest winter in Canada's history.
His comedy career did not survive the winter, but the experience did teach him a lesson about the kind of movies he should be making.
After Trapped in Paradise, he vowed to return to the more serious, and often offbeat, roles that marked his earlier career. In Leaving Las Vegas, he plays a suicidal alcoholic.
''I got lucky with Honeymoon in Vegas and It Could Happen to You, and I thought I was on a roll. The script for Trapped in Paradise played well on paper, and with Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz on board, I couldn't see how it could go wrong.
''Then, about halfway through the shoot, everything just exploded. I'm not into assessing blame, and, frankly, I don't know who was at fault. All I knew was that I couldn't go through something like that again.
''I wanted to return to the movies I started with, movies like Vampire's Kiss and Raising Arizona. I needed to get away from these comedies. Then this script for Leaving Las Vegas came in, and it was the answer to my prayers. It's the only reason I got through that experience in Canada alive and sane.''
Leaving Las Vegas is not your typical love story, and therein lies the appeal to Cage.
''I suppose every movie has a message of some sort, but the message of this movie is not anti-drinking,'' the 31-year-old actor said. ''I never wanted it to seem like I was getting up on a soapbox.
''If anything, I think the message is that it is possible for anyone to find true love.
''I'm not sure you could call this a hopeful movie,'' he added. ''But I think it has something to say to people who maybe are at their lowest.''
Cage said he understands that many moviegoers are not going to be thrilled about seeing a downer. That doesn't mean he cares if his movie depresses you; he simply understands your feelings.
''Believe me, I understand that people don't want to be depressed by a movie. But just as comedy serves a purpose, which is to make people laugh and forget their problems, so does tragedy.
''Maybe tragedy helps us all deal with losses in our lives.''
Cage has never shied from tough films. From Birdy to Vampire's Kiss to Wild at Heart and Red Rock West, the choices reflect the actor's sense of adventure.
A native of Long Beach, Calif., Cage was born the son of an educator and a dancer but chose his uncle's profession. The uncle was Francis Ford Coppola, and he cast his nephew in several movies, including Rumblefish, The Cotton Club and Peggy Sue Got Married.
Cage dropped the family name when Valley Girl came out in 1983. He continued to seek the tough roles, which led to his eating a live cockroach in Vampire's Kiss, playing an Elvis-incarnate in Wild at Heart and a kidnapper in Raising Arizona.
Not exactly Tom Hanks territory.
For the new film, Cage said he studied classic movies about drunks, including Days of Wine and Roses, Lost Weekend and Arthur, with Dudley Moore playing the lovable playboy drunk.
''Every one of those performances was great in its own way, including Dudley Moore's, and I took bits of each one and incorporated them into my character. They were all helpful.''
For his previous film role - a muscular gangster in Kiss of Death - Cage worked out two hours a day for three months to achieve a pumped-up look. His preparation for Leaving Las Vegas took a considerably different turn.
''I think my body went into a state of shock because one minute it was all pumped up and the next, I was trying to look like a bloated alcoholic. I ate sugar, lived on fast food and stopped exercising.
''God, it was horrible. I got all lethargic and felt terrible. But I think I got the look I was going for. I wanted to look crummy and feel crummy, and I did.''
The big question is whether the audience will feel crummy when leaving the theater, but Cage remains unfazed.
''I have a suspicion, and I could be wrong on this, that a growing number of young Americans are tired of the baby food that is being fed to them by the studios. I'd like to believe they're ready for a return to a tougher, harder-edged type of filmmaking. Everything goes in cycles, and maybe it's time again for movies like Midnight Cowboy.
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