‘Sleeping Dogs’ Review: Russell Crowe Plays an Ex-Cop with Alzheimer’s in a Scrappy Piece of Dementia Noir

‘Sleeping Dogs’ Review: Russell Crowe Plays an Ex-Cop with Alzheimer’s in a Scrappy Piece of Dementia Noir

“Sleeping Dogs,” starring Russell Crowe as a retired cop with Alzheimer’s disease, is a half-rusted scrap heap of a detective mystery. It’s patchy, it’s badly lit, it’s glum, it’s overloaded with suspects, and it’s almost proud of its contrivances. Yet in its logy, booby-trapped way, it keeps you watching. Crowe, with a white beard and shaved head that make him look like Santa Claus as a melancholy biker, plays Roy Freeman, who was forced to t…

Sleeping Dogs Review: Russell Crowe and Karen Gillan Can't Quite Save This Predictable Cop Thriller

Sometimes it's best to let sleeping dogs lie, as the saying goes. And folks have been saying this for centuries, if you want to do a deep dive and trace the phrase's origins. It dates back to the 1300s and possibly even before then. But more recently, it's been the inspiration of a new feature film by Adam Cooper in his feature directorial debut. Cooper is known for writing the scripts for genre projects like Allegiant (2016) and Assassin's Cree…