I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

For a film this dull, the fact that the DVD comes with the bare minimum of features is perhaps unsurprising. Why wallow in waste?

What we do get is a commentary and a couple of deleted scenes. DVD commentaries are, by their very nature, self-indulgent and none less justifiably so as the one on I'll Sleep When I'm Dead. Scriptwriter Trevor Preston and director Mike Hodges fill in the film's gaping silences with occasional insights about the production, but mostly they harp on about the merits of the over-hyped cast and their belief that critics are idiots and audiences are underestimated and patronised. They're definitely right about the latter.

When they are not gushing with praise for every single actor in the film (even the ones that appear for about 10 seconds), they take a moment to whine about film critics who have dared insinuate that perhaps the pair has lost touch with the modern world of London gangsterdom. They tell us that critics are mostly "pricks from Oxford". Whilst that may be true, no amount of talking over this film will hide the fact that on this occasion the pricks are right.

There is a moment halfway through the movie where the seemingly delusional Hodges appears to question himself, and actually hints at self-doubt. He considers, for a split second, that perhaps his drawn out shots and long silences might start boring the audience. He shrugs off the possibility, however, preferring to conclude that "there is a certain deadness about someone who is not curious any longer".

No, Mr Hodges, they have probably fallen asleep.