DYING OF THE LIGHT is a disappointingly cheap and low key thriller from writer/director Paul Schrader, who once wowed audiences with his work on TAXI DRIVER and CAT PEOPLE back in the day. He seems to have fallen a long way since then. The film was shot in Romania and features a slumming-it Nicolas Cage who plays a CIA agent haunted by memories of torture at the hands of an Arab terrorist in years past. When he finds said terrorist is back on the scene, Cage goes gunning for him. Sadly, all of this jumbled film doesn't really add up to much. You get a wasted Anton Yelchin in a role so small as to be negligible and a handful of action bits (mainly taking the form of violent shoot outs) as well as repeated flashbacks to a scene of violent torture. The script fails to rise from the doldrums and seems intent on dishing out cliche after cliche rather than trying anything new. Worst of all, there's none of the suspense or tension expected from this genre; a film made on autopilot, then.

For Cage haters, this is your film as he gets beat up and tortured in the opening scene. Cage plays decorated CIA agent Evan Lake, who now sits at a desk. He believes his torturer Muhammad Banir (Alexander Karim) didn't die in the explosion during his rescue. Banir suffers from a disease which requires special medication, something that can be tracked. Lake has an obsession for finding Banir, which his agency believes is dead. Unfortunately Lake has Frontotemporal Dementia and goes through all kind of mood swings and mental fits.

Cage has two major speeches in this film. One he gives to new recruits and another is a tirade against the CIA and US government in general. I cringed during both speeches.

Not the best Cage film or revenge film or spy film out there. Might be okay as a cheap rental.

Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity.

Nicolas Cage has done quite a lot of movies recently. Not all have a certain quality, so considering that, this movie is not that bad. It's improbable and unlikely and a lot of other things too, but when you hear his speech (full of clichés, but nevertheless) almost at the beginning of the movie, you can't help but see the actor shining through. There is still fight left in this "old dog" (no offense to Nic, quite the contrary actually).

Talking about fight, this is about stubbornness and unlikely allies (Yelchin, whose true motives remain unclear to me, other than him being nice ... maybe Cages character reminds him of his dad?),but also about figuring how to let go (or not) of the past. There are some nice touches to this, that can make it worthwhile, but you'll have to decide if this is something you wanna watch (make-up effects are good on Cages face)