It’s just not that bad, especially compared to some of the recent gems in the Cage filmography. Frankly, it probably doesn’t even crack the bottom 20 (hello, “The Wicker Man,” “Stolen,” “Seeking Justice,” “Trespass,” “Season of the Witch”?)
Be that as it may, Cage sure does his thing as the tightly wound Lake. The man just doesn’t seem to have an inside voice. When he gorges on scenery, it is like watching a bull in a china shop, but at least he is nowhere near as embarrassing as Meryl Streep unconscionably overacting in “Osage County.”
As Schultz, Anton Yelchin looks thoroughly freaked out, probably because he was. At least Irène Jacob does her best to class-up the joint as Zuberain.
“Dying of the Light” wrings plenty of atmosphere out of its Romanian locales, and surprisingly, it is almost sympathetic in its treatment of the CIA. (Perhaps that is why some principals are unhappy.)
Say what you will, but they are dashed indulgent of Lake. In its current state, the film also portrays the Islamist terrorists as unambiguously vicious extremists. It is far from perfect and nobody would describe it as high art, but “Dying of the Light” is compulsively watchable, building a fair degree of suspense in its weird way.
Recommended for fans of Cage’s flaring nostrils, it opens this Friday, Dec. 5, in New York at the AMC Empire.
‘Dying of the Light’
Director: Paul Schrader
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Anton Yelchin, Alexander Karim
Running time: 1 hour, 34 minutes
Release date: Dec. 5
Joe Bendel writes about independent film and lives in New York. To read his most recent articles, please visit www.jbspins.blogspot.com
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