Good Reading’s resident film reviewer, Clive Hodges, gives us his verdict on the film Sleeping Dogs, based on E O Chirovici’s The Book of Mirrors.

Sleeping Dogs

Classification: MA15+ (strong coarse language) running time: 2 hour 51 minutes; director: Adam Cooper; cast includes Russell Crowe; genre: crime, thriller, mystery.

Homicide detective Roy Freeman (Russell Crowe) with memory loss opens a cold case and uncovers chilling secrets from his forgotten past.

It’s an old-fashioned film noir … pessimism, fatalism, cynicism, stark lighting, flashbacks, and an intricate plot. It should be seen before the ending becomes widely known.

Good acting – especially from Crowe – with music that adds to the tension.

At one point I was so ‘in-there’ with the action. I had to stop myself shouting out: look out behind you.

When the surprising ending arrives and you’ve thought about it for a while, you’ll know why I gave the film 4½ and not 5 stars.

**** ½

Reviewed by Clive Hodges

ABOUT THE BOOK

A brutal murder

It’s been thirty years since Professor Weider was found dead in his stately home. With little evidence to convict a suspect, the case has never been solved.

A buried mystery

Now, a partial manuscript has been discovered that reveals three people were at the house that night.

All three clearly remember what happened. But someone is lying…