Sleeping Dogs, Starring Russell Crowe

Criminologists consider eye-witness testimony the most unreliable form of evidence. Roy Freeman understands that better than most, because he is an ex-cop and an early Alzheimer’s sufferer. Even though he was fortunate to be selected for a revolutionary treatment, he still cannot remember the troublesome case that comes back to haunt him in Adam Cooper’s Sleeping Dogs, which opens tomorrow in theaters.

At first, Freeman cannot even remember his parents, but thanks to his doctor’s experimental process, some of his memory starts to return. However, his Philly PD career is still a black hole. Nevertheless, he agrees to meet Isaac Samuel a death-row inmate days away from meeting his maker, for the murder of Joseph Wieder, a psychology professor, who once testified against him. Freeman learns that he and his partner Jimmy Remis worked Samuel’s case. Of course, Samuel protests his innocence and challenges Freeman to redeem himself. Maybe the old Freeman would have dismissed Samuel, but since his doctor told him to keep his mind engaged, Freeman starts re-investigating the case, starting from absolute scratch.

Not surprisingly, Remis is less than thrilled to have Freeman poking around, especially since his former partner now sees him as a stranger. Despite his still questionable mental state, Freeman soon stumbles across a primo clue: an unpublished novel apparently inspired by the murder, written by Richard Finn, who rather suddenly died from a dubious overdose. It turns out Finn’s college girlfriend, Laura Baines, was Wieder’s research assistant—and maybe she had other duties as well.

Based on E.O. Chirovici’s novel The Book of Mirrors (also the title of Finn’s unpublished MS.), Sleeping Dogs builds towards pleasantly sinister twist, but it would be better suited to an Alfred Hitchcock Presents-style anthology, because 90-plus minutes gives thriller fans too much time to figure it all out.

Nevertheless, Russell Crowe is terrific as Freeman. In some ways, you could consider Sleeping Dogs the disreputable cousin of A Beautiful Mind, because Crowe does a tremendous job expressing the ex-cop’s instability and confusion. The truth is a lot of Crowe’s recent performances have not gotten the notice they deserve, because they came in less “prestigious” films, like Land of Bad.

Harry Greenwood and Thomas M. Wright also add the right kind of off-kilter noir energy and attitude as Finn and Wayne Devereaux, the professor’s handyman/gardener. Marton Csokas is also reliably arrogant and jerky as the late professor. However, Karen Gillan appears miscast as Baines and Tommy Flanagan is too suspiciously dodgy as Remis.

Sleeping Dogs is more than a little rough around the edges, but Crowe keeps viewers hooked and maybe even emotionally invested. Cinematographer Ben Nott’s fish eyes and lens flares vividly reflect Freeman’s warped perspective, while also amping up the mysterious atmosphere. It is a poor relation to Memento, but it strives to overachieve its budget constraints and telegraphed plot developments. Recommended a diverting watch when it eventually releases on free streaming platforms, Sleeping Dogs opens theatrically tomorrow (3/22) at the AMC Empire in New York.