WFG RATING: A-

The Avenue and Highland Film Group presents a Gramercy Park Media/Nickel City Pictures production in association with Gala Media Capital, JaiD7 Pictures, and Screen Australia. Directed by Adam Cooper. Produced by Adam Cooper, Bill Collage, Mark Fasano, Arun Kumar, and Pouya Shahbazian. Written by Adam Cooper and Bill Collage; based on the novel “The Book of Mirrors” by E.O. Chirovici. Cinematography by Ben Nott. Edited by Matt Villa.

Stars Russell Crowe, Karen Gillan, Marton Csokas, Tommy Flanagan, Harry Greenwood, Kelly Greyson, and Pacharo Mzembe.

A former detective sets out to learn the truth on an old case as he fights something within him in this thriller from writer-turned-director Adam Cooper.

Roy Freeman is a former detective who has been diagnosed with dementia and has begun to lose his memory. However, he has undergone an experiment that may or may not be the cure to his affliction. As he recovers, a meeting with a young woman is set to change his life forever. He meets an advocate for Isaac Samuel, an unjustly accused man set to be put to death for the murder of respected professor Joseph Wieder. 

Freeman has one month to prove Samuel’s innocence and decides to look into the matter as he was involved in the case despite having no recollection. Along the way, he is asked to look into the death of someone connected to Wieder, a former protege turned author named Richard Finn. As Roy begins to read Finn’s notes, his memory slowly begins to come back little by little. Can Roy be able to solve this mystery in time or will it be too late?

Based on a novel, “The Book of Mirrors” by E.O. Chirovici, this film, making the directorial debut of screenwriter Adam Cooper, is a great neo-noir filled with many twists that have a purpose in mind: keeping the viewer engaged. And they succeed as the novel itself focuses on three stories with Cooper and regular writing collaborator Bill Collage focusing on the detective aspect of the novel. 

Russell Crowe once again shows why he is one of the best in the biz with his role of afflicted detective Roy. We see him in the hospital upon learning of his diagnosis and is asked a series of questions which he has trouble answering. He then undergoes a little experiment in hopes to help him gain his memory back and in the nick of time as this case he was once involved in leads to a series of twists and flashbacks if you will as we see from Roy’s point-of-view. 

Karen Gillan pulls the femme fatale card as Laura, a woman who is in the middle of the case as a woman who had helped our two victims in one way or another. Or should I rather say, had relations with both Wieder and Finn, going as far as being the connector between both parties. Into the Badlands’ Marton Csokas’s Wieder gives off a vibe similar to his iconic character of Baron Quinn in the AMC series minus the martial arts action of course. He comes off as a sauve and intelligent professor who uses his charm to get what he wants while Harry Greenwood’s Finn is the innocent man caught up working for Wieder only to learn of the affair and uses it to his advantage when he authors a book. 

Kudos also goes out to Tommy Flanagan, who plays Roy’s friend and former partner who finds himself a bit skittish when he learns Roy is tackling the case. As he slowly remembers, Roy was there when the accused was interrogated for the murder of Wieder. As the film progresses, it becomes apparent and at first predictable in some ways, until a final shocking twist revealing it all becomes the most shocking twist imaginable and ended up being totally worth the wait. 

Sleeping Dogs may have some predictability to certain things, but the twists are very engaging and leads to one of the most shocking final twists, all driven by excellent performances by both Russell Crowe and Karen Gillan. 

The film will be released in theaters on March 22.