I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

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I'll Sleep When I'm Dead ★★★ 2003 (R)

Will Graham (Owen) thinks he has escaped the horrors of urban life for the great outdoors. Unfortunately, his hipster drug-dealing younger brother (Rhys Meyers) has been found dead from an apparent suicide. Shady businessman Boad (McDowell) took a nasty fancy to him and, with the help of his stooges, raped him quite brutally. Now Will has to return to London and make the bad men pay. Extra dark and mean contemporary noir from Hodges looks and acts like a remake of his classic “Get Carter,” with Clive Owen ably filling Michael Caine's shoes (unlike a certain American action star). Story is a bit muddled and confusing at times, but the onslaught of action makes up for it. The rape scene is one of the most agonizing sequences you'll see. Not for the faint of heart. 102m/C DVD . US GB Clive Owen, Charlotte Rampling, Malcolm McDowell, Jamie Foreman, Ken Stott, Sylvia Syms, Geoff Bell, Desmond Baylis, Kirris Riviere, Brian Croucher, Ross Boatman, Marc O'Shea; D: Mike Hodges; W: Trevor Preston; C: Mike Garfath; M: Simon Fisher Turner.