Released in 2004 to mostly indifferent reviews, Mike Hodges’ atmospheric revenge thriller is ripe for re-evaluation. With a plot reminiscent of his debut, Get Carter (1971) the film’s mixed reception seems largely due to mis-set expectations. The story concerns Will (Clive Owen), a retired gangster who is now living largely off-the-grid in a spartan lonely existence as a wood cutter. When he receives news of his brother Davey’s (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) suicide he returns to London to investigate the true cause of his sibling’s demise. Told as three parallel stories which slowly intertwine, the impressive cast also includes Charlotte Rampling as Will’s old flame and Malcolm McDowell as the contemptuous businessman, Boad. Scripted by Trevor Preston with the existentialism of Jean-Pierre Melville, Hodges film is as much about mood as plot. The rainy London streets are neon-lit against inky black backgrounds and there’s an unsettling jazzy music score by Simon Fisher Turner. Fittingly this story of brothers, and Hodges final film, is a wiser, wearier companion piece to his first. In his review of this mournful swan song from a filmmaker forever associated with the British gangster genre Rex Reed of The New York Observer wrote, “A tight, well-made, evocative piece of filmmaking for true connoisseurs of gangster movies that is unnerving, yet completely sure of every step it takes.”
Rarely seen in the UK since it’s April 2004 release Lost Reels is thrilled to present this unsung classic from a recently rediscovered 35mm distribution print courtesy of The Cinema Museum.
