At The Movies: Sleeping Dogs

Russell Crowe is retired detective Roy Freeman who is asked to revisit a murder case from ten years earlier. The trouble is, Freeman is receiving a revolutionary new treatment for Alzheimer’s! In his apartment we see labels all over the place to remind him of day-to-day tasks, and even his name so he can remember who he is.

Freeman visits Isaac Samuel who is on death-row for the brutal murder of Dr Joseph Wieder (Marton Csokas). Having no memory of the case he drops in on his former teammate Jimmy Remis (Tommy Flanagan) who stresses that Samuel admitted he was at the scene of the crime and that he confessed – urging Freeman to drop it.

However, the further the latter looks into it, the more anomalies he uncovers. There was a person who was associated with Wieder – Richard Finn (Harry Greenwood) – but who’s alibi was never followed up. Finn’s girlfriend at the time – Laura Baines (Karen Gillan) – worked with Wieder and had possible motive. Other people come into the picture too who could either be suspects or shed light on who may have been involved. Freeman hits roadblocks when he tries to find people, but they are dead!

Freeman’s therapist has urged him to keep his mind active, to help with treating Alzheimer’s, and it seems to be working. You get the feeling that the more he uncovers and remembers, the more he probably wishes he never started on this uncovering of the past – as they say, he should “let sleeping dogs lie”!

Russell Crowe plays the role of an Alzheimer’s sufferer very well and really shows what a classy actor he is. The movie is quite gripping with every twist and turn – one of the better ones I have seen lately and well worth watching!

Movie Review By John Glennie

Rating: MA 15+
Runtime: 111 minutes