The two decades on either side of the new millennium seem to have been the heyday of movies about corrupt cops. After some pretty corny cop movies in the 1980s, 1990 started off its decade pretty well with "Q & A" and "Internal Affairs". As we moved through the 90s, Hollywood served up "Bad Lieutenant", "Unlawful Entry", "Léon: The Professional", "Cop Land" and the Best Picture Oscar nominee "L.A. Confidential". In the first decade of the 21st century, we got a chance to enjoy Denzel Washington's Oscar-winning performance in "Training Day", followed by the underrated pair "Cellular" and "16 Blocks" and, of course, the Best Picture Oscar winner "The Departed". The current decade has given us less popular dirty cop movies like "Rampart" and "The Place Beyond the Pines". 2017's "Sleepless" (R, 1:35) has things in common with the corrupt cop movies of the previous decade and those of the 90s.
The movie opens with Las Vegas police partners in crime prevention (and crime), Vincent Downs (Jamie Foxx) and Sean Cass (T.I.) stealing a bag of cocaine from a group of hooded thugs that they unceremoniously dispatch in the process. When their sergeant is assigning a team to investigate the homicide scene, Downs and Cass convince him to give them the case. Meanwhile, in the same department, Internal Affairs detective Jennifer Bryant (Michelle Monaghan) is recovering from a drug bust gone wrong. Bryant's partner, Doug Dennison (David Harbour) and the police psychologist express concern for Bryant's mental and physical state, but she insists on getting back to work. Bryant is also investigating the aforementioned drug murder because shell casings from police ammunition were found at the scene. As the story progresses, Bryant becomes convinced that Downs isn't what he seems.
Things get dicier when it is revealed that the cocaine that Downs and Cass stole belongs to casino owner Stanley Rubino (Dermot Mulroney). Rubino sends more masked thugs to kidnap Downs' son, Thomas (Octavius Johnson) and demands that Downs bring the drugs to his casino if he ever wants to see his son again. As Downs is trying to hide his son's predicament from the teen's mother, Dena (Gabrielle Union), the person for whom Rubino was transporting the drugs, ruthless local crime boss Robert Novak (Scott McNairy) comes looking for his coke. All this drama descending upon Rubino's casino is compounded when Bryant and Dennison, who have been following Downs, show up at the casino and work to figure out what's going on. This leads to a series of escalating confrontations and rising stakes for all involved.
"Sleepless" is entertaining, but forgettable and fails to live up to its potential. This is a remake of the 2011 French thriller "Sleepless Night", but can't match that film's adept storytelling and high tension. Several plot points in this American version are suspect at best, although the excellent cast helps draw you in and there are a couple decent twists late in the story. The plotting feels like a throwback to genre movies of the late 80s and early 90s and the overall quality is as unremarkable as the corrupt cop tales from earlier in the 2010s. "Sleepless" is good enough to keep you awake and somewhat engaged, but it isn't impactful enough to keep you up at night thinking about it. "B-"
