I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
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Movie Reviews of I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Movie Review: It almost made it
Summary: 3 Stars
How much cooler can yo get than Clive Owen as Will, the lonely ganster who leaves retirement to avenge his brother death. Charlotte Rampling, his estranged girlfriend, is the perfect vixen of a serie noir: beautiful, misterious, with far away eyes that hide and ambiguous soul. Even the tempo is right: slow, dark, heavy. And the villain, Malcom Mc Dowell, a twisted family man, how can he go wrong. So I was having the time of my life wondering why movies don't get so dark anymore when suddenly, the film sank, lost his tempo, and Will coolness vanished even thought he became handsomer with his new suit and haircut. It was like if at the end the producers, the director and the screen writer decided that the movie had to be hurried away making one of the lamest motives for a crime, sacrificing the first three quartes of what could had been a great movieMovie Review: MIKE HODGES, OPUS 9
Summary: 3 Stars
**1/2 2003. Directed by British born director Mike Hodges. A former mob boss comes back to London when his brother commits suicide. Nothing new under the sun even if there are some great actors involved. Already forgotten.Movie Review: Slow-Moving Modern Noir That Actually Made Me Sleep
Summary: 2 Stars
Any films with Clive Owen should not be missed especially when the film is directed by Mike Hodges of `The Croupier' fame. That's why I watched `I'll Sleep When I'm Dead.' I know many critics praised it for its atmospheric photography and its ambiguous content that might or might not teach you something about existential meaning of our life even though you don't want to know existential meaning of life. All I can say safely here is that I almost slept during the long film that goes on and on as if played at half speed.
`I'll Sleep When I'm Dead' is Mike Hodges's modern-day urban noir film featuring quiet guy Will (Owen) working in a forest, living in an old van. While Will has left the town (whose name is unspecified), his brother Davey (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is found dead in a bathtub.
According to the well-known formula of crime novels and films, Will must search the truths behind his brother's strange death, and avenge it. Will, who has left the life of crime three years ago, is expected to be back in the business of killing before or after questioning the life he had been leading. The fact is, we are not sure of it here.
Mike Hodges' film not only refuses to follow the course - that is not a problem for me - but also meanders too much with scene after scene, many of which only show and tell the very superfluous things like Charlotte Rampling suggesting that Will should leave the matter to the police, or leave the town immediately. Though the film takes time to get us to know the characters of Will, it never convinces us of the cause of the death, and the truths about it. Charlotte Rampling and Malcolm McDowell are both terribly wasted, particularly McDowell whose character's motive for doing what he did is simply laughable. Even Clive Owen, undeniably gifted actor, looks confines in formula-one acting up until ten minutes before the ending.
There are many good things that would have made a better British noir in `I'll Sleep When I'm Dead' but the film never finds a way to use them effectively, relying too much on the moody cinematography and character study. The film got both of them, and I admit both are pretty good, but not good enough to make us forget its dull pace and pretentiousness.
Movie Review: Clive Owen Is Good, But Not Good Enough To Breathe Life Into This Sleeper
Summary: 2 Stars
Clive Owen has come into his own as an actor. His roles in GOSFORD PARK, INSIDE MAN, and CHILDREN OF MEN have proven him to be an excellent casting choice. And here in I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD, director Mike Hodges made the very wise decision to feature Mr. Owen in the prime role as Will Graham, a "retired" gangster returned to the madness after the apparent suicide of his only brother.
Building on the fairly weak relationship of Will Graham with his brother Davey (Jonathan Rhys Meyers, MATCH POINT), the story begins just as it ends, with the arrival and ultimate departure of Will. Interesting in a sort of nonlinear scripting way, the story's ambling nature and unaffecting characters are impossible to empathize with. When Davey (Meyers) is brutally sodomized by a ruthless man, we care very little because we simply don't know anything about them. Nor do we know (or are ever told) why Davey was raped in the first place. There is a simple speech given by the rapist (played by Malcolm McDowell) in an attempt at an explanation, but this is neither believable nor seemingly coherent with the script itself.
Which leads us to bigger and better problems. Since this is the crux of the story -- and what brings Will (Owen) out of retirement -- this leaves the entire film feeling very hollow. The connections between thugs, coroners/cops, and family are thinly developed (if at all) and given so little screen-time as to leave most watchers scratching their heads.
The ending, as stated earlier, mirrors the film's beginnings in that Will appears standing on the same beach monologuing the same lines. The assumption that the viewer is supposed to make is that this has happened before (i.e., Will has come out of "retirement" in the past for important things), but it comes off feeling stilted and out of place.
Clive Owen does an admirable acting job, but the script given him here is too weak to make this a positive movie-going experience.
Movie Review: I'll Sleep About an Hour Into It
Summary: 2 Stars
I assume that the title of this movie is taken from the Warren Zevon tune--a song, I might point out, that is about five thousand times more exciting than this dull, pedantic, pathetic, shiftless, soulless, sleep inducing film (I had to watch it over two nights as it lulled me to sleep after thirty minutes on the first viewing). How in the world do you make a Clive Owen, Malcom McDowell, Charlotte Rampling flick SO flat and pointless that it induces drowsiness? The acting is so deadpan and emotionless that it HAS to be good, right? Wow, and count those crime noir cliches in the script--is that a deep, meaningful commentary on the whole genre I smell? And what about all of those plot points (about half of the screen time in the film) that not only DON'T add to the main story but actually distract and detract the viewer's attention to confuse him or her as to what is actually going on--surely this is the sign of a truly meaningful movie experience, right? And let's not forget the lack of resolution for every single one of these meaningless sub-plots, including the old flame with a gun to her head. Oh, wait, I guess that was done so intelligent movie watchers, like myself, can inject a little thought and speculation into this, obviously, interactive experience. Maybe it is all meant to help solidify my strong homophobic worries and fears (just watch the movie and think about that comment). Is this a student art-for-arts-sake film disguised as crime noir? Or is this really just a flat, dull, dumb crime noir film? You be the judge--if you can stay awake.
Hey, in quick response to one of the other "glowing" reviewers--if the movie they DON'T show you is more interesting than the movie they DO show you--that's a pretty good indication it's a bad movie.