By Will Ortner
Sleepless is a tail of a corrupt cop who has a run-in with gang members and casino thugs, I think. Honestly, it's hard to tell if Jaime Foxx is corrupt or not because he does some pretty corrupt things like selling coke (not the cola version) to casino thugs. Also, he beats up multiple cops, and he even kills a guy (more on that later). Look, it's confusing, there is nothing to see him as a good cop other than the fact that he says he is, which is exactly what a bad cop would say. See, it’s hard to find the truth.
The cast of sleepless is solid with multiple actors and actresses that you will recognize but sadly be unable to name. You will look like the Leonardo DiCaprio meme, where he screams and points at the TV. "It's that lady from Mission Impossible," or "It's that dude that kissed Rachel on the balcony," or my personal favorite "Hey, that's the guy from the Netflix show about aliens and being upside down." Just a solid list of C+, B- actors, and the great Jaime Foxx. No offense Gabrielle Union, you're awesome, but for 90% of the movie, all you do is ask where your kid is.
The biggest issue I have with the film is that while it has a pretty decent cast, the movie expects you to understand everything by context. The video literally introduces the main antagonist of the film using a pitching machine to hit his cousin. Why was he doing this? After 10 minutes of the cousin getting hit by two balls, which come on, stop being a p*ss and rub some dirt on it, do we find out that he accidentally was an informant. So logically, he loses a tongue. I get that he's supposed to be a bad dude, but can I at least get a bit of backstory.
The other issue is that there are all kinds of fighting, gun shooting, and downright disturbing behavior that doesn't cause a large police response. Like I get it, it's a movie, and I need to suspend my belief, but there are multiple fight scenes in front of people, where multiple people die, and the national guard doesn’t get called in. How?!
FYI, it's later, Jaime Foxx literally has a scene where he and his son fight a security guard on the dance floor of the club in the casino, and no one does anything. A few people don't stop the dance, even when Jaime stabs the guy with a bottle of champagne that had a sparkler on it. What the actual F*** people! I might be the most oblivious guy in the world, ask the ex gfs, but even I would notice a guy getting stabbed with a bottle. I call BS on the cops not getting notified after that decision.
All my gripes aside, it is a fun action movie when you eventually figure out what is happening. It’s a nice movie to just relax and watch if you have two hours to kill. I just wish there was a bit more explanation as to what was going on and who people were. 1,873 out of 3,495 stars.
SHAMELESS PLUGS: Make sure to check out my Netflix top ten reviews this upcoming week and come back next week when I review the new Chris Hemsworth movie. Also, watch Guy vs. Girl on 88.1 The Burg's website and social media sites. Also, listen and watch Ort and the Bear every week Tuesday through Friday. Also Also Also, follow me on Twitter and Instagram @willortner.
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