I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (2004)

Fortunately for me IMDb exists. I found this movie by thinking that Croupier was pretty good and to find another movie directed by Mike Hodges.Mike Hodges was born in 1932 making him 81 when he directed this dated thing he should have retired 20 years earlier. Croupier was a lot better movie over all but still a bit of a gay basher--not a hint of ambiguity in it's straight sexy world but this thing is down right offensive. When this unlikeable dope dealer hipster slices his throat right after he was anally raped---(I had thought he might be the one that was beat up-- and had recovered). I hit IMDb and informed pulled the plug.Later in the movie they dress corpses in bras during the revenge...AVOID.DO NOT RECOMMEND... read the other negative reviews....

Okay, so let me be up front. If you like the shoot em' up, get the revenge in 10 bullets or less kind of movie, don't go here. It will be disappointing and make you think it took revenge to a caviar artistic level. However if you like the deeper looks into revenge, what it means, etc. then this is it, hands down. I don't think they unpacked the revenge piece as much as Korean or Hong Kong movies but they do a damn good job. Owen sells his part, you can believe the characters and the inciting incident is hard to stomach but it is a break from tradition. The best way to describe this is simple; if you've eaten an artichoke before you know it is a pain to get through the leaves, each leaving you only partly satisfied. However, if you hold strong, peel until you get to the center, you are rewarded with a tasty treat. The director/producer of this flick do the same thing; stay with it, enjoy the tangled characters and when you get to the end, reflect on a simple question: If memories are the soil of revenge, what good is revenge if your memories are as clouded as London fog? Great stuff.

Huge talent on display here. Trenchant dialogue. Nicely filmed. A little slowly paced, but the story unfolds nicely. Peek inside the British dark side? For sure.So what's wrong with this excellently acted British revenge drama? It arrives at an ambiguous ending. On some level, that is interesting. But only if we understand who is doing what at the end. We do not know.Am I an idiot, or is it important what the identity is of the man driving golf balls on the beach? Ambiguity is the hardest thing non-art-movie audiences have with art movies. Twisted they can take. Irony they can take. Bitter they can take. Political they can take. But unclear outcomes are, and remain, the one issue that audiences, including dumbass Americans like me, have trouble with. What just happened? Nice seeing Charlotte Rampling. Still sexy after all these years.

This would have been a great mystery film if it weren't a revenge film. There's a lot of great atmosphere, tension, and rhythm to the first half of the film, which increases but never really boils over. What connects these characters is power, wanting to be rid of it, loathing it, courting it, defending it trying to manufacture it, and in the end everyone seems only sinking deeper into troubles. It's definitely entertaining to watch and much more well paced and developed than your average gangster film, the problem is this movie feels like it's getting ready to explode or at least have a sequel, and it doesn't capitalize on it's tension. Some good editing, music, performances, and atmosphere, but if your not careful the story can slick it's way by without leaving an impact.