MZS
  • Home
  • Bio
  • Filmmaking
    • Space Rabbit
    • Video Essays
    • Home
  • Writing
    • Books
    • Film Writing
    • TV Writing
    • Personal Writing
  • Media Appearances
  • Store
  • Contact

FILM WRITING

Sleepless (2017)

1/13/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
"Sleepless" is one of those movies that needed to be a lot better or a lot worse to make much of an impression. This story of a Las Vegas police officer trying to recover his kidnapped son from bad guys is frustratingly not-terrible. The action sequences, the characterizations, the performances, all could have come together to form a dandy example of what used to be a called a B-movie: a genre film that doesn't have much money to play with but compensates with ingenuity and style. And yet "Sleepless" somehow quite never gets to that level. Its rare moments of quality only make the rest of the movie—a mishmash of conspiratorial plotting and close-quarters fistfights and gunfights—seem lamer. As directed by Baran bo Odar (2010's "The Silence") and scripted by "World Trade Center" writer Andrea Berloff, this remake of the 2011 French film "Sleepless Night" is funny sometimes but not funny enough, exciting sometimes but never exciting enough, and inherently emotional (mainly due to the hero's anguished desire to save his son) yet never willing to run with the emotionalism and turn into a full-blown action melodrama. 

Sticking closely to the French original, "Sleepless" starts in the middle of a car chase, with Las Vegas police detective Vincent Downs (Jamie Foxx) and his partner Sean Cass (T.I.) stealing a massive shipment of cocaine from drug dealers working for local crime boss Rob Novak (Scoot McNairy), who supplies a local hotel and casino owner named Stanley Rubino (Dermot Mulroney) with party favors for his high-rolling guests. The bad guys kidnap Vincent's son Thomas (Octavius J. Johnson) to get the drugs back. 
​
Read more
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Matt Zoller Seitz

    Film critic and filmmaker.

    Archives

    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017

    Categories

    All
    1953
    1993
    2016
    2017
    30 Minutes On
    Action
    A Cure For Wellness
    Adam Nayman
    Alden Ehrenrich
    Allied
    Andrea Berloff
    Andrea Katsulas
    Andrew Davis
    Anna Kendrick
    Anne Hathaway
    Annette Bening
    Austin Stowell
    Baran Bo Odar
    Beat The Devil
    Ben Wheatley
    Bill And Turner Ross
    Bill Hader
    Biographical
    Bojan Bozelli
    Brad Pitt
    Brie Larson
    Bruce Greenwood
    Bryan Cranston
    Bryce Dallas Howard
    Burning Sands
    Cate Blanchett
    Chad Stahleski
    Christine Berg
    Colossal
    Comedy
    Commo
    Corey Stoll
    Craig Robinson
    Craig T. Nelson
    Crime
    Dacre Montgomery
    Dafne Keen
    Dane Dehaan
    Dan Stevens
    Dark Night
    David Brent: Life On The Road
    David Bryne
    David Harbour
    David Twohy
    Dean Israelite
    Demot Mulroney
    Derek Kolstad
    Deron Horton
    Documentary
    Drama
    Edward Underdown
    Elijah Wood
    Elizabeth Banks
    Emmanuel Lubezki
    Eve Stewart
    Experimental
    Feminism
    Gabrielle Union
    Gerald Mcmurray
    Gina Lollobrigida
    Gold
    Gore Verbinski
    Harrison Ford
    Hélène Louvart
    Holly Hunter
    Horror
    Hugh Jackman
    Humphrey Bogart
    I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore
    Iggy Pop
    Interview
    Ivor Barnard
    James Mangold
    Jamie Ofxx
    Jay Duplass
    Jeanne Applegate
    Jeb Stuart
    Jeffrey Blitz
    Jennifer Jones
    Jenny Beavan
    Jeroen Krabbe
    Joe Pantoliano
    John Carroll Lynch
    John C. Reilly
    John Gatins
    John Goodman
    John Huston
    John Lee Hancock
    John Wick: Chapter 2
    Jordan Vogt-roberts
    June Squibb
    Justin Haythe
    Keanu Reeves
    Kong: Skull Island
    Laura Dern
    Laurence Fishburne
    Lily Collins
    Linda Cardellini
    Linda Emond
    Lisa Kudrow
    Logan
    Ludi Lin
    Macon Blair
    Marco Tulli
    Marion Cotillard
    Mark Duplass
    Matthew McConaughey
    Melanie Lynskey
    Mia Goth
    Michael Fassbender
    Michael Keaton
    Michelle Monaghan
    Miscellaneous
    Mockumentary
    Molly Haskell
    Monster
    Nacho Vigalondo
    Nafessa Williams
    Naomi Watts
    Natalie Portman
    Neely Bingham
    Neo-noir
    Nick Offerman
    Obituary
    Octavius J. Johnson
    Patrick Stewart
    Patti Smith
    Personal
    Peter Lore
    Power Rangers
    Review
    Richard Schickel
    Ricky Gervais
    Rj Cyler
    Robert Morley
    Robert Siegel
    Robert Zemeckis
    Romance
    Rooney Mara
    Rules Don't Apply
    Ryan Gosling
    Samuel L. Jackson
    Science Fiction
    Scoot Mcnairy
    Scout Tafoya
    Sela Ward
    Shea Wigham
    Sleepless
    Song To Song
    Stephen Gaghan
    Stephen Merchant
    Steve Harris
    Steven Knight
    Superhero
    Table 19
    Terrence Malick
    The Founder
    The Fugitive
    Thomas Cocquerel
    Thriller
    T.I.
    Tim Blake Nelson
    Tim Sutton
    Tom Hiddleston
    Tommy Lee Jones
    Tony Revolori
    Trevante Rhodes
    Trevor Jackson
    Truman Capote
    Unloved
    Val Kilmer
    Warren Beatty
    Wyatt Russell

    RSS Feed

Copyright 2019 Matt Zoller Seitz
Site design by Sujewa Ekanayake/Wild Diner Media
  • Home
  • Bio
  • Filmmaking
    • Space Rabbit
    • Video Essays
    • Home
  • Writing
    • Books
    • Film Writing
    • TV Writing
    • Personal Writing
  • Media Appearances
  • Store
  • Contact