Product Description

In I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD, Willie (Owen), a former mobster, comes back to town after he learns his younger brother Davey (Rhys Myers) has committed suicide. Upon learning that Davey was brutally raped by mobsters, Willie is determined to seek justice by finding the men who victimized him. While on the search for the mobsters, Willie comes face-to-face with Frank Scott, the local "bad boy" and conflict arises when Frank starts to believe that Willie is back in town to reclaim his status as the town's bad boy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #66478 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-11-16
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• ESRB Rating: Teen
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, Surround Sound, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 103 minutes

Amazon.com
Mike Hodges and Clive Owen, director and star of the stylish 1998 crime drama Croupier, team again in this moody, almost contemplative thriller about a former gangster, Will Graham (Owen), who returns to London after a lengthy self-exile. In a tragic coincidence, Will's brother, Davey (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), has just committed suicide following a rape by a wealthy car dealer (Malcolm McDowell). Convinced there is more to Davey's death than meets the eye, Will--arguing he is nothing like his old, violent, urban self--slowly evolves again into a formidable criminal. Hodges and screenwriter Trevor Preston emphasize tone and spiritual inference over precise character motivation. Not everything that can be known about Will (especially his rocky psychological state and history with a former lover, played by Charlotte Rampling) is expressly stated. But one can feel his stifled nature rising, paradoxically, toward revenge, and his final actions have an existential power and mystery. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Wanted to like it.
Is "moody thriller" synonymous with "goes nowhere"? I'd really hoped to like this movie, I like Clive Owen a great deal, enjoy Charlotte Rampling, and love both Malcolm McDowell and Jonathan Rhys-Myers, but there's nothing to hold onto in this movie. Nothing that engages you. None of the characters gave me any reason to care about them (except Rhys-Myers, but he dies in the first five-ten minutes. And I cared about his death. But not about any of the people it "affected").

It seems like it's trying to build for something, and, ultimately, yes, Will gets his revenge, but, really, motivation? Why did anyone in this movie do anything? McDowell's character (whose name I didn't even care enough to remember) had no motivation to bugger the boy, and there's an entire side-sub-plot involving guys that don't want Will in town that remains useless.

Overall, a huge disappointment.

Were they asleep when they made this?
One of the most luckluster and spineless entries into the British gangster genre made, ironically enough, by a filmmaker who defined it all several decades ago. See Get Carter, the original version, if you want to see stylish grace executed with poisonous aplomb and bitter vigor. Not a great film, but if you like this kind of stuff, you can't beat Michael Caine.

Clive Owen may be the first actor in cinema history to embark through an entire film project utilizing a single facial expression. Then again, he doesn't have much to go on; here's the basic plot: (if you think I might spoil something, then don't read ahead, although we find out all this stuff in the first 20 minutes or so).

Bad evil former gangster now retired hides in woods doing manual labor. He is evil, but now out of the lifestyle, and you can tell this because he's bearded, doesn't talk much, and has a glassy-eyed expression.

Bad gangster's younger brother is a man-about-town drugrunner, midlevel scumbag, who gets pulled into a warehouse and raped by Malcolm McDowell. Younger brother, dazed, startled, wanders home, and fittingly, commits suicide. Wouldn't you? He's one of the lucky ones.

Then we watch slowly, relentlessly, as Clive returns from hiding, finds out all this stuff that we already know, is given bare patchy explanatory mumbo-jumbo from other characters, and then kills who he needs to kill.

Visually dull, completely un-stylish, and utterly pointless. Everyone involved clearly wasn't sleeping enough, or was sleeping way too much. What else can I say? Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who I usually like, is wasted here, as is McDowell, who looks a bit put out to be involved in this at all. Even Charlotte Rampling turns up, in another absurdly superfluous character.

Sorry guys, really wanted to like this one. Didn't.

Atmosphere, Revenge, and Poor Characterizations.
"I'll Sleep When I'm Dead " is a moody, atmospheric revenge film that takes place among the trainspotters and swank bosses of the criminal underworld. Will Graham (Clive Owen) is a reclusive ex-con who feels impelled to resume his old ways to avenge his brother David's (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) violent death. "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" has more style than substance. Clive Owen is always charismatic, but here he is less so than usual. The audience simply doesn't know enough about Will to wrap it's mind around. Charlotte Rampling and Malcolm McDowell round out a talented cast, but their roles are too small to provide anything but glimpses of their characters. The film takes an awfully long time to arrive at the main story, and once it does, produces very little of substance in its characters or themes. It seems cursory, as if a better film might be found below the surface of this one. -Perhaps if the dialogue were improved and more time were spent on character development instead of the lead-in. "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" isn't altogether bad. It has some intriguing moments. But even for Clive Owen fans, this film's a bit flat. There are no bonus features on the DVD. Subtitles are available in English.