I remember a scene where the two main characters – a teen boy and a man in a trench coat – are running from some terrorists (or otherwise bad guys). The man in the trench coat is mysterious, but beloved. During the movie he’s become a mentor/bodyguard/guardian to the teen boy. He’s helping. The scene I recall most vividly is when the man in the trenchcoat is shot and killed. He’s standing up against a stone or brick wall as he dies. There is a “You’ll be fine without me” feel to his death. I’m not 100% sure of this part, but I think he might disappear which leads the viewer to believe that he was an angel or a figment of the kid’s imagination.
If it was a little girl, I would have said ‘Leon’……
“Cloak and Dagger” with Henry Thomas and Dabney Coleman. 1984.
An eleven-year-old boy’s father is missing from his life but lives on in the boy’s imagination as a super-spy “Jack Flash” character from a role-playing game.
The boy gets pulled into the real world of espionage when he discovers a console game cartridge with a top-secret microchip hidden within, and he uses his imaginary father-friend to get him through it alive.
There is definitely a scene where the boy outgrows his need for the imaginary friend, who ‘dies’ in a bid to save the boy which ironically works.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087065/?ref_=nv_sr_1
Cloak and Dagger! Eureka! Thank you