Dying of the Light (2014) - Review

Dying of the Light is a 2014 espionage film starring Nicolas Cage and Anton Yelchin. Cage plays a veteran CIA intelligence analyst, Evan Lake, who is diagnosed with a form of dementia that promises that his career has neared its end. Lake is determined to stay on as an agent because of his belief that a terrorist that the Agency has since declared killed in action is still alive somewhere in the world. An office friend, Milton (Yelchin), is tipped off on information that the terrorist may still be at large and assists Evan in tracking him down so that this chapter of Evan's life can be closed before it is too late. 

The movie tackles some intense themes, as Evan Lake is a "hoo-rah", patriotic CIA agent determined to finish the job that he was reassigned off of years later. His dementia diagnosis and Agency pride feature heavily throughout the film as many characters express their concern for his health and general competence to do his job. It was sad to see Anton Yelchin in this movie, as his death in 2016 cut his promising career short. His performance walking the line between wanting the best for his friend while risking his career is very touching throughout the runtime. It is a shame to see such talented individuals give their hearts to something that is very incredibly boring. I found myself looking away from the screen all throughout the movie despite my dedication to give it a fair shot. The only redeeming parts of the movie are the aforementioned performances; everything falls flat on its face as being very uninspired. There's not much more to say about the movie as there really isn't much substance to it. I understand that there was controversy surrounding the movie before its release due to the director unable to make edits to the movie without studio interference, so I can only chalk this up to this very unfortunate incident marring what could have been a very humanizing story. But we may never know, so I have to just pass judgement on the product we did receive.