Will Graham (Clive Owen)is a former gangster boss who gave it all up out of disgust at wasting his life in crime, he now lives out of the back of a van and fleets from one anonymous job to the next, sometimes not speaking to another person for weeks on end. After losing his latest job as a forestry worker, he decides to ring his younger brother Davey (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) whom he left in London three years previous, but when he is unable to contact him, he heads for home. On arrival he finds that Davey has committed suicide, but Will is unconvinced and orders a separate independent autopsy, which reveals the shocking truth behind his death. After his success with Croupier, Hodges again returned to the crime genre, and again called on Owen as well as a host of familiar faces, not least Charlotte Rampling as the former love interest of Owen and Malcolm Mc Dowell as a car salesman with a penchant for rape. In a film that is light on dialogue, a strong acting style is required and Owen delivers in spades in a very downbeat role. Hodges even with a meagre budget manages to instill a fine sense of Noir and he manages to keep a tight grip on his actors who never resort to the histrionics that have marred other contemporary Brit Crime films. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead on the face of it has a lot in common with its directors debut, Get Carter, in that they both have their hero going home to find out what happened to their brother and the resulting revenge plot line, but they are quite different films, if anything this latest offering is even darker. Will Graham is a troubled man, coming to terms with his demons, he doesn't want to return to his former violent lifestyle, a lifestyle it must be said that is never alluded to, but the viewer is left in no doubt as fear of him is quite apparent from the faces and demeanour of other criminals who knew him. Some would argue the films ambiguous ending is a let down, I see it as a triumph, its rare to find films this brave, Hodges despite his checkered past is back on top form.

This is GET CARTER director Mike Hodges' attempt to update his gangster classic for the new millennium; it's a gritty, extremely dark London-set thriller that relies more on mood and atmosphere than actual story or action; there's little of the former and certainly none of the latter. The centrepiece of the film is a deeply unpleasant male rape, the effect of which is spoiled by making the victim (Meyers),an unlikeable drug peddler, so you end up feeling nothing for him.

Clive Owen, his brother, comes out looking for revenge, and really it's Owen that makes this film work; he's morose, sullen, and quietly menacing, a hugely powerful presence that brings life to the whole movie. The whole supporting cast, from Rampling as the insipid friend to Ken Stott as a comical gangster, is thrown into the shade, although Malcolm McDowell still cuts a presence as the rapist and antagonist. However, although the film is good while you watch it, when it's over you can't shake the feeling that there was no real point to it, except to show what an unpleasant world we're living in. The title, which has nothing to do with the movie, comes from a Bon Jovi song.

Davey Graham (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) sells a bit of drug at a party. He is hunted down and brutalized. He stumbles home and is found dead in his bathtub. His brother Will (Clive Owen) returns into the underworld seeking revenge.

This starts with a muddled story telling. It goes on a little too long but it does get there eventually. Some may call it a broody mood. I do like what Clive Owen is doing. At a certain point, I want him to John Wick this world. He needs to brutally murder a lot of people. It's pulling it back until the final confrontation. Malcolm McDowell helps make the ending work and in the end, the movie does work.