Sleepless (4/18/2017)

Rated R for strong violence and language throughout.

Starring Jamie Foxx, David Harbour, Michelle Monaghan, Dermot Mulroney, Gabrielle Union and T.I.

Directed by Baran bo Odar

Not even Jamie Foxx could keep me from falling asleep.

Sleepless stars Jamie Foxx as undercover Las Vegas police officer Vincent Downs, who is caught in a high stakes web of corrupt cops and the mob-controlled casino underground. When a heist goes wrong, a crew of homicidal gangsters kidnaps Downs’ teenage son. In one sleepless night he will have to rescue his son, evade an internal affairs investigation and bring the kidnappers to justice.

First thing you need to know is that this is a remake of a French action movie. The second thing you need to know is that they should have never tried to remake this French action movie.

The French version may have been a hit in France, but this is version is barley a Hollywood B-movie.

So here’s what happened. Swiss director Baran bo Odar and Straight Outta Compton writer Andrea Berloff remade Frederic Jardin’s 2011 French thriller Nuit Blanche. They casted Jamie Foxx in the lead role. They threw in some other actors like T.I. and Dermot Mulroney. They made Foxx a corrupt Las Vegas cop who finds himself caught in a turf war between a crooked casino boss and an unhinged mobster. He is also being trailed by a relentless Internal Affairs investigator.

I know that sounds exciting. I know it sounds like a good movie… but it’s not. The action is subpar and the dialogue leaves a lot of be desired.

I’m not the biggest Jamie Foxx fan, but I have to say that he is far too talented for such generic material.

This one is a “Coaster.”

SHOULD KIDS SEE IT:
There is no sex or nudity but the language and violence are too much for kids.

While most of the scenes are depicted in quick cuts without strong details, some of the stronger scenes of violence show characters shot in the head with blood splattering, on car windows as one example. And there is a scene where a character is stabbed in the neck with a broken bottle.

There are also plenty of F-words in this one.

CONVERSATION STARTER:

1. How did Vincent get in the situation he finds himself in?


2. Have you ever gotten into trouble by making one big mistake?


3. Have you ever gotten into trouble by a series of small bad decisions?

Read Proverbs 11:14

Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.


4. Who are the counselors in your life?


5. Do they help you make good decisions?