Russell Crowe Struggles To Forget a Derivative Mystery in Sleeping Dogs
An estimated six to seven million people suffer from Alzheimer’s in the U.S. alone, and if movies are to be believed, a substantial portion of them are further burdened with the responsibility of solving a murder mystery or closing out their contract-killing career. Just a week after Michael Keaton struggled to set his affairs in order in the somber hitman drama Knox Goes Away, Russell Crowe is drawn into a similar world of murder and deception in Sleeping Dogs, playing dementia-afflicted ex-cop Roy Freeman, who re-opens an old murder case he once considered settled but no longer fully recalls.
Roy’s home is covered with sticky notes containing various reminders, instructions and other information, some of it potentially redundant: Why would frozen food with illustrations and cooking instructions printed on its box also need a sticky note repeating those instructions? If Roy is so far gone that he can’t read pre-existing instructions, should he be working a microwave in the first place? The most likely explanation is that Roy suffers from the rare Memento strain of Alzheimer’s, which is unfortunate for him but a real boon when it comes to selling an unremarkable mystery thriller with borrowed imagery.
That may sound insensitive, but movies like Sleeping Dogs do not exactly inspire sensitivity through their gimmick-at-will treatment of a tragic ailment. In the midst of an experimental treatment designed to improve his condition, Roy is approached by an advocate for a prisoner he put away for the murder of a college professor (Martin Csokas). He goes along with the conversation despite not remembering much of the case, and turns to his old partner Jimmy (Tommy Flanagan) for help; it may seem like an unlikely task for him to take up, but it beats sitting around his apartment, re-reading his various notes to self as he waits to see whether his brain can heal. Eventually he crosses paths with Laura Baines (Karen Gillan), who – depending on who’s recollecting what – is either a genius researcher manipulated by her former prof, or a femme-fatale manipulator in her own right.