R | 1h 50m | Drama, Crime, Thriller, Mystery | March 22, 2024
Since winning the Oscar for Best Actor in a leading role for “Gladiator,” Russell Crowe’s career path has been iffy. He was (rightfully) nominated in the same category a year later (“A Beautiful Mind”), went toe-to-toe with Denzel Washington in “American Gangster” and Christian Bale in “3:10 to Yuma” in 2007, and made one of the best cop-buddy movies ever opposite Ryan Gosling in “The Nice Guys” from 2016. Everything else since then has more or less been a waste of time.
With “Sleeping Dogs,” Mr. Crowe has delivered his best performance in nearly a decade and finds him turning in a riff on what I feel to be his finest ever, that of Bud White in “L.A. Confidential” (1997).
Here Mr. Crowe stars as Roy Freeman, a retired Pennsylvania detective deep in the throes of Alzheimer’s disease. In the brilliant opening title sequence, we’re given a tour of Freeman’s digs and see masking tape notes he’s left for himself: “You are Roy Freeman,” “This is hot water,” “Your clothes are in here,” and the like. Freeman can remember events from decades earlier but not what he did 10 minutes ago.
Alzheimer’s Cure?
Freeman has recently undergone an experimental operation where electrodes have been planted inside his brain to rejuvenate his memory, and it is yielding positive, albeit creepy, results.He’s been asked (via an activist) by a convicted man (Pacharo Mzembe) on death row to help save his life. Freeman booked him 10 years earlier for the murder of high-profile college professor Dr. Joseph Wieder (Marton Csokas) for which the man confessed but is now changing his tune.
On a mere hunch, Freeman visits his ex-partner Jimmy Remis (Tommy Flanagan, Mr. Crowe’s castmate in “Gladiator”) to get his opinion on whether the investigation should be reopened and is quickly shot down. Only slightly deterred, Freeman presses on after the recent overdose death of failed writer Richard Finn (Harry Greenwood), who once worked for Wieder and might have been involved in a love triangle between them and femme fatale grad student Laura Baines (Karen Gillan).
All the above takes place within the first 20 minutes of the film and, although it might sound a bit too convoluted and contrived for its own good, “Sleeping Dogs” has done itself proud with a brilliant set-up that makes complete sense.
Not the Source Material
In adapting the 2017 E.O. Chirovici novel “The Book of Mirrors,” Mr. Cooper and Mr. Collage stray far from the source material, which, in this instance, was probably a good idea. The screenwriters completely eliminated one of the major characters from the book, which resulted in a tighter, more streamlined script.
For whodunits such as this, simple is always better. Appearing byzantine or complicated up front is okay, as long as everything is wrapped up neatly in the end. That is not what happens here. One significant object is introduced, and two others removed, thus throwing the thrust of the narrative off. These major plotting errors could have been corrected by any first-year drama student in the rough draft stage.
Admittedly, the final reveal is a major surprise, but could have had a much greater impact and stunning wallop had just a few minor details been tweaked and fine-tuned. What is now a three-star movie could have been a classic with very little effort.
The Future of Crowe
Appearing overweight, bearded, and out of shape with scars on his shaved head that resemble football laces, this is exactly the type of role Mr. Crowe needed at this late point in his career. These kinds of lead roles—mentally disadvantaged senior citizens with less-than-perfect body types—don’t come along very often and Mr. Crowe was wise to play the broken, yet immensely relatable Freeman.Even with the major hiccups in the script, Mr. Crowe shines throughout and displays a level of nuance and delicacy he’s never previously exhibited. Far too many actors past their prime fool themselves, but rarely audiences, in reinterpreting their “greatest hits.”
