SLEEPLESS

In SLEEPLESS, Vincent Downs and his partner, Sean Cass are working a drug case undercover for the Las Vegas Police Department. One night, they find themselves in the middle of a gun fight and unknowingly take possession of 25 kilos of cocaine with a $7 million street value. The drugs are supposed to go to a casino owner, who then is to deliver them to the notorious Novak crime family in the Las Vegas area. Vincent heads home and surveys a wall in his living room with photos of all the key players in his investigation, including his apparently crooked partner, Sean.

The next morning, Agent Bryant of Internal Affairs investigates the scene, along with Vincent. She tells Vincent they found government issued shell casings at the shooting scene. Vincent plays innocent, but Bryant secretly suspects him of being involved. She informs her partner, and they decide to investigate it.

Meanwhile, Vincent must deal with issues on the home front when his ex-wife, Gabrielle, asks him to pick up their son from the hospital where she works as a nurse and take him to his football game. Vincent turns up late and has to lie to keep his cover from being blown. On the way to the game, his 16-year-old son is pulled from the car at a red light and kidnapped. Almost immediately, Vincent gets a phone call from the casino owner informing him he can have his son back when he delivers the drugs.

Vincent hatches a plan to get his son back, all while trying to answer to his concerned ex-wife about their son’s whereabouts. He makes his way to the casino with the drugs, but isn’t aware that Agent Bryant is following him. Vincent stashed half the drugs away in the ceiling of the men’s bathroom, planning to use it as leverage to make sure his son is returned.

While making his initial delivery, Bryant finds the stash and takes it as evidence. When Vincent comes back for it, he’s told by the bathroom attendant that Bryant took it. Without the means to get his son back, he must evade capture by Bryant, find the drug stash, and keep from being killed by the angry leader of the Novak crime family, who just wants his drugs.

SLEEPLESS is a Hollywood remake of the 2011 French/Belgian crime thriller SLEEPLESS NIGHT. The plot is mildly entertaining, and there’s enough happening to keep viewers guessing about who the bad guys are up until the very end. Though the clues are cleverly intertwined in the beginning, it’s not clear that Vincent really is working undercover until later. He comes across rather convincingly as a “dirty cop.”

That said, SLEEPLESS suffers from some conspicuously unrealistic scenes. The first such example is the kidnapping scene when Vincent pulls up to the red light. It’s not until the end of the scene, when the viewer realizes that no other cars were present for a whole two minutes in the middle of Las Vegas, and there was no cross traffic requiring them to stop in the first place. Also, a fight scene takes place in a busy hotel kitchen, but conveniently, everyone in the kitchen disappears to make room for the fight. A torture scene also takes place in the middle of a large baseball stadium with no staff or security around to witness it.

Regardless of the movie’s obvious flaws or clever moments, however, its violence overshadows everything else. The director doesn’t do much to hide the gore of death by gunshot or stabbing. Many people are shot point-blank with blood splattering everywhere. Also, machine guns are used by criminals in several scenes. Obscene language is also very prevalent, and the main character must deal with the complications that come with divorce. The topics of drugs and corrupt policemen are central to the movie. Perhaps the best thing about SLEEPLESS is that the good guys win. Otherwise, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution.