* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: Creator/NicolasCage and Creator/ElisabethShue give amazing performances in this film. Cage won the Best Actor UsefulNotes/AcademyAward, while Shue was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar. They each also won (or were runners-up for) the lion's share of major film critics awards, most notably including New York, Los Angeles, and the National Society.
* JerkassWoobie: Yuri, definitely. Ben, maybe.
* MoralEventHorizon: The frat boys [[spoiler:don't just gang-rape Sera, ''they videotape it to commemorate the moment.'']]
* NightmareFuel: [[spoiler:Sera's gang-rape.]]
** Any scene where Ben is experiencing withdrawals are also not pretty to watch. Especially the scene following Ben's outburst at the casino where he wakes up on Sera's couch experiencing delirium tremens and crawls in agony to the fridge for more vodka. The music cue for this scene is even titled 'Ben's Hell'.
* RetroactiveRecognition:
** Creator/MariskaHargitay has a brief scene as a prostitute.
** Creator/XanderBerkeley, who would later rise to fame for playing George Mason on ''[[Series/TwentyFour 24]]'', appears as the cab driver who takes Sera home after [[spoiler: she is raped]].
** Creator/EmilyProcter appears in the film, several years before gaining major roles in ''Series/TheWestWing'' and ''Series/CSIMiami''.
* TearJerker: The last fifteen minutes of this film are ''harrowing''.
%%* TheWoobie: Ben and Sera.
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