Roy Freeman (Russell Crowe) was unceremoniously booted from the police force after a drunk driving accident.
He has since being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and has undergone revolutionary cranial treatment.
With his memory shot, every wall and device in his home is labelled. That includes instructions on how to cook food in his freezer.
Out of the blue, Freeman receives a call from Emily Dietz (Kelly Greyson), a representative of a non-profit legal action group.
She is reaching out on behalf of prisoner Isaac Samuel (Pacharo Mzembe).
He is scheduled to be executed for the vicious murder – a decade ago – of pioneering psychology researcher Dr Joseph Wieder (Marton Csokas).
Samuel was incarcerated on the evidence of then homicide detective Freeman and his partner, Jimmy Remis (Tommy Flanagan).
In the next month, Samuel is scheduled to be executed.
He insists he didn’t do it and implores Freeman to do some digging before it is too late.
When he does, he uncovers a pandora’s box of lies and manipulation.
The finger of blame points in many directions.
That includes Wieder’s ambitious research assistant Laura Baines (Karen Gillan) and her wannabe novelist boyfriend Richard Finn (Harry Greenwood).
A shadowy figure is Wayne Devereaux (Thomas M. Wright), a war veteran suffering from PTSD, whom Wieder helped find maintenance work.
And another who hardly seems to a clean skin in all of this is Freeman’s ex-partner, Remis.
Sleeping Dog has been written by Adam Cooper (Assassin’s Creed) – who makes his directorial debut – alongside Bill Collage.
Jumping between the past and present, it is taken from the novel The Book of Mirrors (2017) by Romanian author E. O. Chirovici.
As a storyteller, Cooper is drawn to characters in crisis, to someone who goes on a journey, from a lost or fragmented state to restoration. Enter Freeman.
Sleeping Dogs is an involving mystery crime thriller, in which the ground is constantly shifting.
With flashes of memory returning, Freeman – who is fighting his own battle – is persistent and methodical.
Crowe is convincing as the man on whose shoulders Samuel is set to die. He is dour, troubled and resilient.
Around him, Cooper has assembled a diverse collection of characters, none of whom could lie straight in bed and the movie is all the better off for it.
Karen Gillan plays Baines as a prima donna. Marton Csokas is equally entitled as Dr Wieder. Tommy Flanagan is rough and ready as Jimmy Remis.
Harry Greenwood morphs Richard Finn from self-assured to aggrieved. Thomas M. Wright presents Wayne Devereaux as a mental stew.
With many threads and suspects, I found Sleeping Dogs convoluted but compelling.
The real star of the show is Crowe, who fares significantly better than in his recent religious offerings – The Exorcism (2014) and The Pope’s Exorcist (2013).
Rated MA, Sleeping Dogs scores a 7 out of 10.
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