Continuity mistake: Moving out to Sera, Ben is packing his things in a motel. You can see a half full glass standing on a bed table on his left. In the next shot Ben is pouring alcohol to an EMPTY glass filling it in 1/3 approx. In the next scene glass is half full again and in the next one - FULL. Eventually he is drinking from a glass full of alcohol.
Continuity mistake: When Nicholas Cage is in the pool and in a couple of other scenes where he is wearing a shirt you can clearly see a tattoo on his back, but when filmed without a shirt the tattoo is gone.
Continuity mistake: In the scene directly following Sera's asking Ben to move in with her, while he is packing his bottles and clothes into the too-small suitcase, he empties his tequila (I think) bottle into his glass (the one on the book) filling the glass, at most, half-way, however, after he says "I'm nuts about you," and picks up the glass, it is completely full.
Continuity mistake: When Ben first meets Sera and takes her back to his motel room, they get drunk and pass out on the bed. When Sera wakes up next to Ben several hours later and realizes it's morning, she's wearing strappy sandals with a very high heel. In the following scene when the cab driver drops her off at her apartment, she's wearing flatter sandals with a much lower heel. (00:35:10)
Continuity mistake: When Ben goes to the pool hall, he orders a beer. At first, the beer doesn't have a head on it, but, in 2 shots later, it does have a head, but then it doesn't, again.
Chosen answer: Like any cinematic depiction of ANY behavior, "Leaving Las Vegas" is a depiction of extremes of behavior. Keep in mind that Nic Cage wasn't merely trying to catch a buzz in this film, he was trying to commit suicide-by-alcohol, which is extreme. If anything, Nic Cage's performance was far too animated and articulate for someone dying of alcoholism. Seldom are the final, terminal stages of alcoholism worthy of depiction in a feature film. So, the answer is no.
Charles Austin Miller