Sleep Better with a Glock
Detective Vincent Downs (Jamie Foxx), a seemingly dirty cop and his partner, Sean Cass (T.I.) rob some unsuspecting drug dealers. What they don’t know is the drugs they stole belong to some powerful men who aren’t afraid of the law. Downs’ son gets kidnapped and the powerful men are looking for a trade. Downs must return the drugs and get his son back all the while being investigated by Internal Affairs.
Boom! Skilled fist fights, car chases, heavy shootouts and a dangerous man with a motive. Sleepless is contemporary action movie with all the things everyone loves from the genre. As soon as we fade up from black, the film is already at 100mph and it stays that way throughout the film.
The fighting stands out as possibly the strongest aspect of the film despite all the shooting and car chasing. The type of fighting style they used seemed like a mixture of John Wick and the church scene from The Kingsmen. It also took a page out of 80’s Kung Fu movies where everyone is a skilled combatant. For you realists out there, you might have a problem with this but if you’re a viewer that just wants to see Jamie Foxx kick some tail, you’re in luck.
With all the high octane action, everything moved so quickly. There was literally not a single slow moment in the film. Even in the expositional scenes where we’re getting to the nucleus of the plot. In a normal movie, during this time, the main character might be sitting down, asking the questions the audience need answered but in Sleepless, it’s happening while two people are beating the crap out of each other.
But oh boy, this has to be one of the most “dad movie” ever. It’s right up there with the Expendables. And I don’t mean “dad movie” because there are themes of fatherhood in the film, I mean it’s a film only dad’s love (Joking). In all seriousness though, Sleepless takes on the majority of the cliches that have plagued action movies for years. The “down on his luck” cop has been overplayed since Die Hard and Lethal Weapon. The “kidnapped loved one” character motivator can see its way off the field as well.
The plot was convoluted and over elaborate. There never seemed to be any solid congruency as it unfolded. With all the twist and turns, betrayals and reveals, its mostly gave the impression that the director was desperately trying to give the film some kind of artistic merit when it was better off as an outrageous shoot ‘em up. Along with having a frail plot, the setting was incredibly implausible. Most of the film took place inside a crowded casino in Las Vegas. With all the shooting, fighting and car chases inside the casino (yes a car chase in the casino), it never seemed to bother anyone, security, staff nor the patrons. No one called the police or gave a sense of concern all the while the detectives investigating Downs roamed around the casino.
This film doesn’t stand out from anything that has come in recent years or in years past. A generic action film that will probably be forgotten as soon as it's out of theaters. Although the trailer is completely deceiving, don’t enter this film expecting much. For those of you who enjoy mindless action films this will suit you very well. And your dad.