This is a remake of the French thriller Nuit Blanche (2011) which I’ve never actually seen. But I HAVE had a long Skype conversation with its writer-director Frederic Jardin, about a project called TWIST on which I was the (sixth) writer, and to which he was (briefly) attached as director. It was the last project I worked on (gainfully employed!) before the stroke, and I still get a postcard from the producer about its prospects, from time to time. (The producer’s father had a stroke as well, so he KNOWS…)
Well, I wish I could have forgotten Twist and just gone: I am not worthy… And proceeded to fantalk about his film! (Since Nuit Blanche, Frederic Jardin’s just been on the cop tv series Spiral and Braquo. Which is a shame…) Nuit Blanche (aka Sleepless Night) is for hire on Amazon Prime for £2.49, so I’ll get to it…
As for Sleepless, it’s – currently, AMAZINGLY – FREE on YouTube (but it won’t be for long). It’s set in Las Vegas and is in the subgenre of ’24 hours in the life of a criminal and/or cop’ (Die Hard, Snake Eyes, The Lineup (1958) and – in a small way – my own Liability etc). It fell foul of the 2017 Las Vegas massacre, which happened shortly after its release.
Jamie Foxx is absolutely fine as the corrupt (or is he?) cop. But it’s the supporting cast who really take the biscuit:
Michelle Monaghan – the honest cop.
Dermot Mulroney – the dishonest but lovable casino owner.
David Harbour (Revolutionary Road, The Equaliser, A Walk Among Tombstones – and whom I spent the whole film thinking was Michael C. Hall…) – the crooked cop.
Scoot McNairy (Halt And Catch Fire) – the Serbian villain, oh boy…
And – last but not least – the direction by Baran bo Odar, who was born in Switzerland and of whom you may not heard. But you may know his Netflix series Dark or his excellent (but grim) German-language feature The Silence (2010). The only thing wrong with Sleepless is (possibly) the complete lack of humour. Which either means that Odar is borderline autistic OR that he just thinks the twists and turns of the plot are humorous enough…
It’s not QUITE up to the standard of John Wick (2014 – what is?). But boy oh boy… I want to watch it again…
Stroke of luck 