Dying of the Light (2014)

Let's be realistic.

Best movie ever!

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

A largely boring script. Slow moving and slow developing. Melodramatic. Extremely dark. Most people will lament the time lost. And the thing with the ear was getting silly. Cage's character has a mangled ear from being cut with wire cutters while he was being tortured. But when he does undercover work in disguise his make-up guy is able to miraculously fix that with prosthetic make-up. Then he is able to change back. It's ridiculous. That ear would need plastic surgery to make it look that good. I just started laughing at that point. It makes you wonder what kind of lousy medical insurance CIA agents would have if they couldn't fix the agent's ear years after the incident. What, they let him leave the hospital like that? Somebody get a needle and thread, for Pete's sake.

Evan Lake (Nicholas Cage) was a legend at the C.I.A., but after years in the game, and a particularly horrible experience at the hands of the Taliban, he was diagnosed with dementia, and forced into retirement. Lake is moving on with his life when new information comes to light, that his old nemesis, a terrorist leader long believed dead, is back. Knowing their best chance to catch him is Lake, they turn to him for help, but can he keep it together long enough to complete his mission? This unbelievably was a b-movie, yet a remarkably strong performance for Nicholas Cage, who randomly had to go between C.I.A. legend and confused old man. His performance is aided by the late Anton Yelchin, playing an analyst who admires Lake so much, that he goes against orders to help him with his mission. The whole dynamic between the man at the end of his career on his last mission, and the boy at the start of his career on his first mission, really added something different, that you don't typically see in espionage films. Dying of The Light really does have a lot to like about it, but one must remember, it is an espionage film and a direct-to-video one at that. The writing isn't spectacular and parts of it are more than somewhat confusing. They also throw in a lot of Evan's flashbacks and delusions at the completely wrong times, which really did start to bother me as the film got more intense. Overall, I did enjoy this film, I thought the acting was terrific, and I loved the dynamic and chemistry between the two leading men, despite the obvious age difference. Dying of The Light certainly isn't a perfect movie, but it's still an entertaining one.

I stopped watching when the terrorist at the meet looks across at Cage and Yeltchin, playing two highly experienced CIA agents, sees them staring at him and, strangely enough, takes off!Yeltchin, at this point, shouts "Damn he's seen us!" Of course, he saw you. You're two highly experienced CIA agents who know how to blend into any situation but, instead, choose to sit on a bench and stare directly at the mark. Hmmmm....Now Cage has got an excuse for this as he's got a dread disease which kind of excuses him for being in this film at all. Oh no, wait, the characters got the disease....so what's your excuse Nic???Absolutely terrible film....

Although visionary film maker Paul Schrader had this motion picture taken out of his hand by the producer and re-edited, his script and directorial creativity remains powerful and intact. Corrupted by director Brett Ratner at the behest of Lionsgate, it is certainly not the film Schrader wanted to make in its entirety but enough remains of his vision to satisfy those who appreciate his genius. Both Schrader and Cage have disowned this as released, yet Nicholas Cage gives one of his finest performances and that should be imperatively noted. One can see where Schrader's cinematic electricity still runs through the celluloid and where Ratner's clumsy amateurish efforts short circuit the project. It is indeed a shame for this had the potential to earn Oscar nominations all around if not for the egregious studio interference that destroyed what Schrader strived so artistically to achieve.