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Dying of the Light

R Released Dec 5, 2014 1h 35m Action Mystery & Thriller List
13% Tomatometer 38 Reviews 15% Audience Score 1,000+ Ratings
Forced into retirement and terminally ill, a CIA agent gets word that his longtime nemesis has resurfaced, so he sets out on a personal mission to kill him. Read More Read Less
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Dying of the Light

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Critics Consensus

Dying of the Light envelops the spark of several intriguing talents, leaving audiences lost in a yawning void of uninspired filmmaking.

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Critics Reviews

View All (38) Critics Reviews
Geoffrey Macnab Independent (UK) The plotting doesn't make much sense but Cage gives a typically flamboyant and uneven performance as the stubborn old agent. Rated: 2/5 Jan 7, 2015 Full Review Kate Muir Times (UK) While this was all no doubt galling for Schrader and Kosuth, you don't get the sense that there is a masterpiece lurking somewhere underneath. Rated: 2/5 Jan 7, 2015 Full Review Jonathan Romney Observer (UK) What remains is by no means catastrophic, just solemn and inconclusive, with the darker psychological resonances (Cage's character faces encroaching dementia) lost in a rather woolly mix. Rated: 2/5 Jan 4, 2015 Full Review Mitchell Beaupre Paste Magazine Compelling ideas on mortality and indoctrination but clearly, disappointingly shifts about a third of the way through into another generic Nicolas Cage DTV action-thriller. Rated: 6/10 Jun 24, 2024 Full Review Niall Browne Movies in Focus Dying of the Light is something a little different. Sure, it covers most of the spy movie tropes, but this contains an impressive performance from Nicolas Cage. Rated: 3/5 Mar 21, 2021 Full Review Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com Rife with a series of awkward developments and bizarrely presented characters that are grimly determined to maintain an aura of stilted seriousness that does its clichéd narrative no favors, it's neither Schrader's best nor worst work. Rated: 2/5 Sep 12, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (87) audience reviews
Horror fan 4 It was ok. Nicholas Cage was the best part of the movie. The supporting cast was average at best. This could've been so much better. Tim Treakle Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/27/24 Full Review Martin B The reviews are right it's not a good movie with Cage's character annoying most of the time. Plodding along, telegraphing points Cages character would have lapses to make things more interesting it's like they got to the end and said oops! Now we need a twist just to give it a chance not to get trashed. Really, just walking away like that was going to be an ending? Rated 2 out of 5 stars 04/18/24 Full Review KB B It wasn't the best movie but had some interesting sequences. I'd never want to watch it again. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/02/24 Full Review wilbur k "Rage, rage against the dying of the light." - Dylan Thomas I think this film is under-rated. Sure, it's a little preachy in a way that folks are not used to. And, the flash-backs, PTSD and dementia-like moments sometimes intertwine and make it harder to follow. And, few people play "crazy" as manically as Cage, but too much crazy can get in the way of story telling too. The title can suggest - not surrendering; not giving up; fighting for your "values" to the bitter end. A second meaning that works for me, it that we may - in these troubling times - be witnessing "the dying of the light" of that "shining city on the hill" that Reagan referred to. Cage plays an old-school (very old-school) "patriot" who has devoted his life (beginning in the Marine Corps) to defending his country. But, I suppose the "higher ups" don't value what he represents. And, the top-heavy CIA bureaucrats have lost touch with their "values"; turned into political lackeys. Cage's character rages about the CIA's failures to do the right thing; to keep America safe. He points out that the CIA does not have the courage of it's convictions to stand up to Presidents when they are wrong; to report the inconvenient truths. Examples of our intelligence community failures; a few of the many: Most now understand that 9/11 happened because of a massive intel failure and failures to act pre-emptively. And, when we withdrew the bulk of our forces from Iraq - our intel folks warned the President's office of the threat of forces coming down from Syria, but those were ignored. And, Afghanistan? The previous administration set up steps for an orderly withdrawal. Our intel folks saw those steps were being broken early on when we could have slowed their advance and gotten our gear, our selves and allies out of there in an orderly fashion. But our CIA leadership has been neutered into becoming "yes men". So yeah, Cage's character is mad as hell at what has happened to his CIA; broken; losing sight of it's values. Dying of the Light had important messages to convey, but those messages only flickered in a liberal-dominated Hollywood. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review russell h Cage kept me entertained but it just wasn't very satisfying as a revenge story. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Mais uma do nosso amado Cage, não é uma bomba como algumas de suas obras, talvez por isso não tenha me atraído tanto, entretanto a compulsão e persistência do personagem nos fascina, suas debilidades nos sensibiliza, a vingança nos regozija, adorável trama, nem tanto apaixonante, tampouco desinteressante, regular… Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Dying of the Light

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Movie Info

Synopsis Forced into retirement and terminally ill, a CIA agent gets word that his longtime nemesis has resurfaced, so he sets out on a personal mission to kill him.
Director
Paul Schrader
Producer
Scott Clayton, Gary A. Hirsch, Todd Williams, David Grovic
Screenwriter
Paul Schrader
Distributor
Lionsgate Films
Production Co
Over Under Media, TinRes Entertainment
Rating
R (Violence|Language)
Genre
Action, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 5, 2014, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 12, 2015
Runtime
1h 35m
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