While the basic premise - a mob-connected enforcer attempts to uncover the secrets behind his brother's death - might sound like the outline for Mike Hodges' 1972 classic Get Carter, the comparison stops there (bar a nod in the narrative framing device, located on a deserted beach). Unlike Jack Carter, Clive Owen's Will Graham - "the hardest man I've ever known," says one associate - has now retired from the London crime circuit that was his life. Instead, he roams the remote countryside in a Transit van, working as a manual labourer wherever he can.

His return is prompted after he senses something is wrong with his cocky younger brother Davey (Rhys-Meyers), a petty thief and coke dealer to the young, posh and loaded crowd. As it turns out, Davey has been abducted by wealthy car dealer Boad (McDowell) and raped. Upon return to his home, he slit his wrists while in the bath - only to be discovered dead by his best friend and minder Mickser (Foreman, Nil By Mouth). As Will returns to London to find out who would've perpetrated such a crime, word gets out that he's back. Two people in particular - Charlotte Rampling's restaurateur (Will's former flame) and Ken Stott's crime boss - find this news unsettling, for very different reasons.

Hodges cranks up the atmosphere of I'll Sleep When I'm Dead from the get-go, beginning with the shadowy titles that immediately conjure up thoughts of film noir. Shooting the capital with an eye for its seedier side (with many of the scenes filmed at night), Hodges' direction is in perfect synch with writer Trevor Preston's rich and authentic narrative.

From the cast, Rhys-Meyers is surprisingly good, while Stott - seen just sitting in the back of his limo cruising the streets - makes a favourable impression. Owen has fun riffing on his slick role in Croupier, particularly when he gets the chance to change from his scruffy apparel to a sharp suit, and Foreman adds a smattering of comic relief. Unfortunately, while Rampling's role is woefully underwritten, the choice of McDowell (given his appearance in Gangster No. 1, for example) could've been more inspired.

Nevertheless, the result is the best British crime film since Mona Lisa. A story about how, as Will says, "people like us don't change", it's a mature, seasoned effort brimming with confidence. Dealing with the theme of "a life wasted", this is the work of a man who clearly never wasted his.