This wordy, pretentious material seems to be exactly what the fictional Bruce ![]() One has to wonder whether director Charles Finch (son of actor Peter Finch, working with a script co-authored by his father's widow, Yolande Turner) let autobiographical elements creep into WHERE SLEEPING DOGS LIE. Bruce gets a last letter from his former housemate, now primed to begin a fresh killing spree. When Eddie states where he hid the bodies of his victims, Bruce finally calls the police, who dig up the yard, discover no bones, and dismiss the now vanished Eddie as a hoaxer. But while Eddie takes charge of the writing, Bruce sinks into a He's not even upset when Bruce discovers his secret, because now they can collaborate openly on the gruesome memoir. Much longer it becomes apparent that Eddie is the long-sought serial murderer, returned to his old killing ground. Before long he's helping Bruce work on the book, and before Serena declares the manuscript-in-progress a blockbuster and sells it as a non-fiction interview with the unknown maniac.Ībout this time Bruce takes in a boarder at the mansion, a twitchy, timid soul named Eddie (Tom Sizemore) who quotes Shakespeare and bloodier bits of the Bible, ties himself to the bed at night, and keeps under control with medication. After initial revulsion, he gets a brainstorm, races to his old typewriter, and starts pounding out "Diary of a Murderer," a first-person account based on his fevered impressions and Bruce has a failed second career selling real estate, and when the would-be author gets evicted from his apartment he moves into a dilapidated old mansion he's supposed to put on the market.īruce learns why no one will buy the place-it was the site of grisly, unsolved slayings eight years earlier. "Feeling, morals, all that sweet-smelling shit went out with a bullet and the two Kennedys," sneers his ex-lover Serena Black (Stone), now a glamorous literaryĪgent. Nobody in Hollywood will buy the high-minded novels and "message" screenplays of penniless writer Bruce Simmons (Dylan McDermott). Instead, by the time this ends, with one final twist beyond what is either necessary or plausible, you’ll be hard pushed to muster any reaction beyond a sigh, or possibly a small, marginally derisive snort.This horror genre variation on BARTON FINK is not a great film, but it is a brave one, on two counts WHERE SLEEPING DOGS LIE is both a serial killer drama devoid of gore, and a Sharon Stone vehicle without any nudity. Eleni, in particular, stops being the intelligent and resourceful woman she initially appears, the one which I was looking forward to seeing, taking her revenge on an idiotic and unfaithful husband. By which I mean, if the trio had a lick of sense, events would have unfolded in three radically different directions. Maybe it should just have been made entirely in Greek and Spanish?īut the weakness here is mostly the storyline, which relies too much on contrived incompetence necessary to the plot. ![]() The difference, in a positive direction, is palpable. It’s the latter which is an issue, and one made all the apparent by a scene or two where she gets to revert to her native Greek. What we get here is an object demonstration of the difference between speaking English, which she does perfectly well, and acting in English. It doesn’t help that the lead actress appears to be operating largely in her second language. ![]() For instance, Eleni talks at length to Armando about how the foot is the most sensitive part of the body, then drives a nail right through… his hand? Though the problems start earlier, with a script that seems a draft or two short of polished. Far too much of the film thereafter consists of running around in the near darkness, and you’re left peering into the gloom, trying to figure out who is doing what, and to whom. And what, exactly, are Luna’s allegiances? Is she on his side or that or Eleni?Īfter a satisfactorily intriguing start, this falls apart after Armando breaks free of his bonds, and vanishes into the blackness surrounding the cabin. However, Armando knows this information is the only thing standing between him and a hole in the desert, so won’t give it up easily. There, Eleni prepares to extract the access information to the account where he has stashed the ill-gotten gains – an account Luna is rather unhappy to discover was created in her name. These both come to a head when Eleni walks in on the pair of them, and the three of them take a long drive to a remote house in the desert, with Armando in the trunk of the car. Nakamura, and b) cheating on his wife Eleni (Giannatou) with his secretary, Luna (Zanella). Account Armando (Cabellero) has made a series of questionable decisions, the two largest of which are: a) skimming from his organized crime connected client, Mr.
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