MovieChat Forums > Leaving Las Vegas (1996) Discussion > scene with tape recorder in the bank

scene with tape recorder in the bank

posted 12 years ago by legnadibrom
4 replies | jump to latest

okay, so that scene where ben can't sign for his check is followed by a bar scene, and then he goes back to bank but before he signs his check he's talking into a small tape recorder about how he wants the attractive bank teller to pour bourbon all over her breasts and vagina while there are people in the background watching and listening to him,
it feels like a cutaway scene(like sera's confessions) but obviously doesn't actually happen because suddenly ben is without the recorder and is walking up to sign his check,

it felt like a daydream as ben might've been waiting in line, but why the recorder?

anyway, does anyone know how this scene fits into the film?

[–] MrAgmoore 12 years ago

It fits into the job that he was eventually fired from - his office had piles of unread scripts.

[–] sth78 12 years ago

He is talking into the recorder so that the people (and the teller) won't think he is talking to them or out into the blue, but perhaps reading up to a script (he is a screen writer after all). That way he can talk dirty in public without people minding.

Besides that, the opening scenes are shuffled. It is non-linear storytelling. The check he is cashing is the severance check he gets from his boss a couple of scenes later. He is wearing his ring when he gets fired, although it was stolen earlier in the film. And so on.

[–] zensixties 12 years ago

It's weird that I never noticed that--that he cashes the check before he gets it. Gotta love Figgis' humor in that scene where after Ben is done talking about the teller she says to another guy, "That's our business--trying to make our customers happy" ;-p
But I believe the scene with him dictating into the recorder was not a daydream; I think it was meant to be real.

For who would bear the whips and scorns of Hollywood... (;-p)

[–] jsisgod 12 years ago

I thought the scene was real too. The reactions of the people in the background convinced me. One woman in particular seems very disturbed and offended.

As to Ben's behavior, he was probably going through DTs when he first tried to cash the check. His body needed alcohol He got some, and he was back to "normal" when he went to the bank the second time.