56
Metascore
26 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 83Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanThe film is held together by Clive Owen, who spends most of his time on screen hidden beneath matted hair and a scruffy beard but still has more aura than any actor around.
- 75ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliIn order to appreciate I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, you have to be willing to absorb unhurried film noir, and to accept that the film's version of "closure" is a little frustrating.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood ReporterThe finish, too, is enigmatic, but in the hands of Hodges, with his masterful touch in conveying how deep run the rivers of regret, I'll Sleep When I'm Dead may take its place with "Get Carter" as a classic British gangster film.
- 70TimeRichard SchickelTimeRichard SchickelIf you surrender to the film's often inexplicable rhythms, if you let its dark materials reach out and envelop you, it can be a curiously rewarding experience -- a blend of silences and sudden bursts of violence that, despite its highly stylized manner, feels more edgily lifelike and more disturbing than most movies.
- 70The New York TimesDana StevensThe New York TimesDana Stevens"Croupier," the director's comeback film of 2000, which also starred Mr. Owen, is a riskier, more interesting exercise in English noir than I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, but the new film, whose title comes from a Warren Zevon song, nonetheless serves as a fine stylistic showpiece.
- 60Film ThreatFilm ThreatA consuming and stimulating work and a theoretical thriller, it is a film which could only be created by a remarkably skillful filmmaker.
- 50New York PostLou LumenickNew York PostLou LumenickAn atmospheric but sluggish and needlessly confusing British contemporary film noir that may indeed leave some audience members struggling to stay awake.
- 50TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghDirector Mike Hodges and screenwriter Trevor Preston's dark revenge tale strips its crime-story cliches of their hopped-up energy and seedy glamour, leaving nothing but sordid sadness.
- 40VarietyDerek ElleyVarietyDerek ElleyContains interesting ideas, but often those ideas are not fully realized.
- 20Village VoiceMichael AtkinsonVillage VoiceMichael AtkinsonWallows in the same affected retro stylishness as the earlier film (Croupier), suffers from the same lack of narrative focus, and is just as choked with clichés.