Sleepless

Based on 2011’s Sleepless Night, Sleepless follows grizzled cop Vincent Downs (Jamie Foxx) as he embarks on a violent quest to save his son from the clutches of a sinister criminal (Scoot McNairy’s Novak) – with the movie transpiring mostly within the confines of a typically expansive Las Vegas casino. Filmmaker Baran bo Odar, making his English-language debut here, delivers an opening stretch that doesn’t exactly bode well for what’s to come, as the narrative emphasizes the surprisingly complicated antics of a whole raft of scarcely-developed characters – including Dermot Mulroney’s sketchy casino owner, Michelle Monaghan and David Harbour’s dogged federal officers, and Gabrielle Union’s concerned nurse. The ensuing multitude of subplots does prevent the viewer from wholeheartedly embracing the central protagonist’s plight, and yet there does reach a point at which the various threads begin to converge and the plot appreciatively streamlines – which paves the way for an impressively propulsive midsection that’s rife with tense, action-packed sequences. (There is, for example, an exciting hand-to-hand fight in a kitchen that ultimately stands as a highlight.) And although the film hits a lull in the buildup to its third act (ie the wheel-spinning is palpable), Sleepless concludes with a stirring, surprising climax that effectively cements its place as an uneven yet entertaining contemporary actioner (albeit one that’s right in line with its equally erratic predecessor).

**1/2 out of ****