I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (2003)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Mike Hodges

Writer:

Trevor Preston (written by)

Release Date:

30 April 2004 (UK)

Genre:

Thriller | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

For three long years, Will Graham led a quiet life. Things are about to change.

Plot:

Will Graham is a gangster who has left the life of crime and is living in the countryside. He comes...

Plot Keywords:

Golf | Brother Brother Relationship | England | Gangster | London

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Clive Owen	...	Will Graham
Charlotte Rampling	...	Helen
Jonathan Rhys Meyers	...	Davey
Malcolm McDowell	...	Boad
Jamie Foreman	...	Mickser
Ken Stott	...	Turner
Sylvia Syms	...	Mrs. Bartz
Alexander Morton	...	Victor
John Surman	...	Pathologist
Paul Mohan	...	Coroner
Damian Dibben	...	David Myers
Amber Batty	...	Sheridan
Daisy Beaumont	...	Stella, Drugs Seeker
Lidija Zovkic	...	Philippa, Model
Geoff Bell	...	Arnie Ryan

MPAA:

Rated R for language, a rape scene, violent images and brief drug use.

Runtime:

Canada:102 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | USA:103 min | Argentina:103 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Iceland:16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Finland:K-15 | Ireland:15A | UK:15 | USA:R | Canada:14A

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Mosaic Film Group

Quotes:

Will: You're wrong, Arnie. You're wrong about most things, most of the time

Movie Connections:

Featured in O Lucky Malcolm! (2006)

Soundtrack:

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You May Drop Off Sooner - Less Than Meets The Eye

This is an old master's film, in which an aged director goes back to revisit the kind of story he excelled at when young, with dubious results. A more satisfying example of this kind of nostalgia would be John Frankenheimer's "Ronin," and if you had trouble with that one, you'll hate this one.

What Mike Hodges gives us here is a great wind-up and no pitch. London at night, endless shots of almost-human cars under the street lamps, a threatening bunch of thugs who never really thump each other, it all adds up to considerably less than a whole film.

Much has been made in these reviews about the film's ambiguity. I disagree. All the characters, and I mean all, are painfully aware and articulate about their motivations. Gloomy predictions are made about inevitable conflicts that never materialize, action is either cut short or cut away from. The whole thing is like a Michael Mann thriller with all the thrills scrupulously removed. Or perhaps Hodges is trying to reclaim the genre from Guy Ritchie's jokiness.

The script for this film must really have looked threadbare on the page. The dialog is obvious and arthritic. What works is the acting, the cinematography and the director's depressed atmospherics. Clive Owen demonstrates his considerable presence in a part that is intended to be a deliberate let-down. Charlotte Rampling is fascinating as always, more so than her lines. The rest of the cast ranges from good down to OK.

But in his determination to avoid clichés, the director has also managed to avoid incident, pace and interest. So a nice wind-up, but no pitch, no runs, no hits, and some calculated, deliberate errors.