on 1/17/2026, 7:10 am
Monica Coman acknowledges that SLEEPING DOGS had a divisive reception when it premiered on movie screens in 2024. We all missed it here at the time because it had no American theatrical release.
Reviews at IMDB are more middling than what Coman enumerates--here is a representative example:
One sentence summary: To keep his mind active following an experimental medical treatment for Alzheimer's, a retired detective decides to revisit an old closed case.
While I would stop short of calling Sleeping Dogs a good movie, there is plenty to like about this Russell Crowe-led independent mystery. It unashamedly draws inspiration from films like Memento (2000) and, more recently, Memory (2022), but Crowe's performance is what gives this movie its own spark. The supporting cast provided him with little help, though, as he was noticeably a league above his co-stars. Inconsistent pacing also hurt the film at times, hampering the momentum that the twisty, occasionally convoluted story seeks to build. Luckily, the movie concludes with a bang, delivering a gut-punch ending that is equally satisfying and devastating.
Not sure that as another example of slow-paced "geezer noir" it will match up against the likes of Ian McShane in AMERICAN STAR, but...
It's now streaming on Paramount+.
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