Sleepless - It won't put you to sleep

Genre Action
Director Baran bo Odar
Producer Roy Lee, Adam Stone
Actors Jamie Foxx, Michelle Monaghan, Dermot Mulroney, David Harbour, T.I., Gabrielle Union, Scoot McNairy
Where we got our copy Ster Kinekor
Reviewed on Cinema (2D)
Available on Cinema (2D)
Air Date 2017-04-28

phatmammasboy

Published April 28, 2017

Jamie Foxx plays Vincent Downs, a Las Vegas policeman who robs a shipment of cocaine with his partner Sean Cass, played by T.I. Soon after, Vincent’s son gets kidnapped by the men he had stolen the cocaine from. What follows is a series of events in which Vincent tries to retrieve his son. It is a rather simple plot, with a series of generic characters. However, it was the acting and certain plot elements that kept the movie nagging for my attention.

There are nightmare-simulation moments, which I found great to experience in a film of this genre. There were moments where I tensed up for the characters’ lives and which kept the pulse of the film going through to the end. The film is primarily set in a Las Vegas casino. While some viewers may experience this as limiting and claustrophobic. I found the way the film explores every aspect of the casino in a remarkable and creative perspective, fun and intriguing. The action is great as well, with the impact of every punch and gunshot being felt with fantastic sound editing.

Jamie Foxx is as good as he is in any other film he has appeared in. He does the movie justice and doesn’t take it on as a half-hearted side project. It was also great seeing him again after such a long wait post The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Horrible Bosses 2. His performance was flawless, from cool and collected to stressed and chaotic. I enjoyed watching the villain played by Scoot McNairy. I don’t think I have ever seen the actor before, but he handled the villain with an unnerving and icy performance that got my skin crawling. Nothing much can be said about the other characters though. T.I.’s performance was poor and the rest of the characters were supplementary and irrelevant to the overall plot carried by Jamie Foxx.

Watch Sleepless if you are in the mood for something mind numbing and fun. It will keep you entertained with its non-cerebral plot and roaring action. While not the greatest of action films, the film makes the best of what it has and it does that pretty well.

Action films thread a fine line between putting me in a coma and keeping me awake. While the masses of current-day action films leverage large-scale scenes, superheroes, spaceships, comedy or the supernatural to keep audiences entertained. Old school raw, rough and tough action films are rare… and the good ones are even rarer. John Wick reignited the “action hero” film with unanimous and deserved appeal. Sleepless tries to follow suit, and while it does a lot according to the ctrl-p method of generic cinema, it does some things well and that’s just aaaaalright by me. Jamie Foxx plays Vincent Downs, a Las Vegas policeman who robs a shipment of cocaine with his partner Sean Cass, played by T.I. Soon after, Vincent’s son gets kidnapped by the men he had stolen the cocaine from. What follows is a series of events in which Vincent tries to retrieve his son. It is a rather simple plot, with a series of generic characters. However, it was the acting and certain plot elements that kept the movie nagging for my attention. There are nightmare-simulation moments, which I found great to experience in a film of this genre. There were moments where I tensed up for the characters’ lives and which kept the pulse of the film going through to the end. The film is primarily set in a Las Vegas casino. While some viewers may experience this as limiting and claustrophobic. I found the way the film explores every aspect of the casino in a remarkable and creative perspective, fun and intriguing. The action is great as well, with the impact of every punch and gunshot being felt with fantastic sound editing. Jamie Foxx is as good as he is in any other film he has appeared in. He does the movie justice and doesn’t take it on as a half-hearted side project. It was also great seeing him again after such a long wait post The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Horrible Bosses 2. His performance was flawless, from cool and collected to stressed and chaotic. I enjoyed watching the villain played by Scoot McNairy. I don’t think I have ever seen the actor before, but he handled the villain with an unnerving and icy performance that got my skin crawling. Nothing much can be said about the other characters though. T.I.’s performance was poor and the rest of the characters were supplementary and irrelevant to the overall plot carried by Jamie Foxx. Watch Sleepless if you are in the mood for something mind numbing and fun. It will keep you entertained with its non-cerebral plot and roaring action. While not the greatest of action films, the film makes the best of what it has and it does that pretty well. [taq_review] Sleepless opens in cinemas countrywide today. If you are watching it, let us know what you thought, down in the comments below.

Movie Review: Sleepless – It won’t put you to sleep

2017-04-28

phatmammasboy

Total - 7

70 7

The film does some things right and in a genre that does so much wrong, that's ok with me.

User Rating: Be the first one !

Sleepless opens in cinemas countrywide today.

If you are watching it, let us know what you thought, down in the comments below.

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phatmammasboy

Entertainment Author at Geek Node

After years of delusions believing he will grow up to be Steven Spielberg, months of therapy finally helped him overcome his disorder. He now believes he will grow up to be both the Coen Brothers. Ziyaad has taken his love for movies to an abnormal level, leaving his glamorous job as an engineer to make movies, write about movies, talk about movies and on occasion do expressive dance showing his love for movies. He knows his movies like he knows the time of his bowel movements (surprisingly very well)…

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Article Tags: action · Cops · featured · Jamie Foxx · Movie · review · Sleepless · T.I.

Article Categories: Movie Review