Awful.

I picked up this DVD because its director, Mike Hodges, also directed the awesome revenge thriller "Get Carter" (1971) with Michael Caine. "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" starring Clive Owens has an almost identical premise: badass gangster comes to town to avenge his brother's murder.

Unfortunately, unlike "Get Carter", there's very little actual revenge here. Instead, we get 2 hours of our protagonist moping around the countryside and then the city having stilted conversations with flat characters (most of whom end up having absolutely nothing to do with the plot) before anything happens. Then the movie ends.

Look, I don't mind "moody" and "contemplative" films-- heck, I'll happily sit through a 3-hour Tarkovsky flick-- but the subjects and characters have to be interesting to make it work and that's unfortunately where "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" fails.

I blame the screenwriting. Characters don't converse as much as they deliver longwinded speeches to the each other. The plotting is poor, as well. There's a big backstory that never gets a satisfactory explanation, and numerous subplots that never get resolved.

Bottom line: If you're looking for an action-packed thriller, this ain't it. If you're looking for an interesting meditation on revenge, this ain't it either.

Avoid.

4/10