The action in "Sleepless Night" is intense, sure. However, it is not a fight filled, guns blazing extravaganza. The US trailer and comments gave this movie credit with being a mix of Die Hard, 24, and Taken. However, it is much better than Taken, more intelligent than Die Hard, and more unnerving than 24.

Tomer Sisley plays Vincent, a cop who moves cocaine for a drug kingpin. However, things take a turn for the worse and Vincent's son is kidnapped by Marciano, the kingpin. Vincent must enter Marciano's nightclub and outsmart the thugs and crooked cops who are both trying to track down Vincent. Sisley's performance is physical and real, his face is often twisted in pain or sadness, or violent rage. His acting impressed me more than all other aspects of the movie.

The setting takes place almost entirely in a nightclub, where Vincent is searching for his son while trying to search for the hidden drugs which he must give to Marciano in exchange for his boy. Never have crowds of ordinary people played such an important part in a film. The crowds on the dance floor, stairs, and bathrooms all play significant parts in the film. I felt claustrophobic just watching Vincent try to swim through a mess of bodies numerous times. The lighting and music creates a seemingly frantic pace, of which the movie already has plenty. Another highlight is the fight between Vincent and fellow cop Manuel. It is a very realistic and brutal one. It turns into a desperate, devastating fight where both men are exhausted physically and mentally after wards. They utilize numerous kitchen items and the landscape to try and better one another. There is no fancy fight moves or wall climbing, only ferocity and violence in this fight.

I was impressed with the acting and location. The plot is average, but the cast helps elevate it, and you are genuinely concerned for Vincent an his son's well being. It is in French with English subtitles, and I'm glad there was no awful dubbing as is what usually happens. It is a good action movie that impresses with its cinematography and acting. Well worth a viewing or more, especially if you enjoy films like Die Hard or Taken. It more than deserves a spot next to them on the shelf.

Sleepless Night, the new French action film written and directed by Frédéric Jardin, combines all the visceral action of a film like Die Hard, with the suspense and urgency of 24. While the film itself doesn't stray too far from the standard action formula, it still manages to take us on fun ride over the course of one crazy night.

Shot almost entirely in what appears to be the largest, most labyrinthine night club in the world, Sleepless Night follows Vincent, a cop who ends up on the wrong side of the law, as he attempts to make things right, and save his kidnapped son. Caught between the gangsters that have his child, and the police that are chasing him down, Vincent needs to make his way through the crowded night club and get himself and his son to safety.

Although this is not an entirely original concept, the execution of the story is expertly done. Within the first minute of the film, we're thrown into the action, which sets the tone for the rest of the movie. It's fast paced and at times frantic, but does let us catch our breath from time to time. The fact that it also takes place over the course of one night, in one centralized location, also adds to the suspenseful nature of the film. Although the club seems to be enormous, with many back hallways and side rooms, it's also very crowded and feels claustrophobic at times, which helps accentuate the frenzy, along with the ever present thumping of the club's music.

Having the entire film take place in this club is an interesting idea, however there are several questions of logic and common sense that are raised. Mainly, the fact that there are numerous gun fights throughout the film, and no one seems to be frightened or call the police. There are also several fights that take place in very public areas, and yet everyone seems to just ignore the fact that men are being killed around them. Personally, if I'm at a club and I hear gunshots, I'm out of there, I don't care if they just started playing that Queen song I love.

Logistical problems aside, this is still a fun movie to watch. The fight scenes are very realistic looking and feel very brutal. Instead of going with meticulously choreographed punches and kicks, Jardin decided to go with a more simple approach. The men who are fighting look like there's a purpose to every punch. They are doing it out of necessity, not because it looks flashy. Vincent does everything within his power to fend off his attackers and get to his son. He uses the environment to his advantage, grabbing at anything and everything that will stop the people trying to kill him.

Sleepless Night does a lot of borrowing from Die Hard, but still manages to stand on it's own as a top notch action film. With an engaging story, and some excellent fight scenes, this is an easy recommendation for any action fan. It's also been recently announced that this film will be getting an American remake, so it's certainly worth checking out before we ruin it with our own version.

Adam FilmPulse.net

Two masked cops go after some drug dealers and steal their drugs. One of them, Vincent, is injured in the ensuing fight. He's also identified by one of the criminals and witnesses. As a result, the big bad drug lord, Jose, kidnaps Vincent's son to get his drugs back. Now Vincent forcefully explains to his partner Manuel, that he needs the drugs while Manuel wants his cut and needs the money. Later Manuel meets with a crooked internal affairs cop.

Vincent retrieves the drugs and goes to Jose's lair, a giant dance club/restaurant/bar/private club for perverts and more. But he was followed by a female IA. She sees him go in the men's restroom with a bag but exit without the bag. So she goes in the men's restroom and finds the bag in the ceiling. She takes it and hides it in the women's restroom ceiling.

Vincent with just one little packet of drugs meets Jose and demands to see his son. After Jose checks the drugs and Vincent sees his son he offers to return in a few minutes with the rest of the drugs, which of course aren't there anymore. So he devises a plan and goes to the kitchen and gets the staff to fill packets with flour and put them in a bag. But by now another foreign gang has arrived demanding the drugs from Jose. The ruse works and Vincent gets his son back, but only for a while. He quickly loses his son again to the thugs.

Now with no more moves to make he has to get his son back, with Jose and his henchmen after him as well as the two IA agents and Vincent's ex-wife constantly calling him on the phone.

Nuit Blanche is quite thrilling at first. Everything up to the point where he loses his son after getting him is very exciting, timing is very important for Vincent and we are on the edge counting the seconds till the foreign drug dealers discover the ruse. Things slow down then for a bit as Vincent has no way out--no drugs, no weapon (he hid his somewhere in the club). But quickly things pick up again as he confronts the IA agents very violently and things get a little funny too as he uses some cute girl he rescued earlier from a pushy guy to hide and escape from all the people after him. Story-wise too there are several twists and turns and things aren't quite as they seem.

But, too much time is spent on the son, the ex-wife, kitchen fight scenes. Vincent running through a very crowded club gets repetitive fast. Almost the entire movie is set in the club and despite attempts to give us a variety of environments, it does get tiring after a while. Nevertheless, for a Heat-inspired French action thriller, this movie is worth watching.

Before I get started, I would like to say that I thought this was a good movie. With that being said, I would like to explain why I am only rating it a 6. I live in the US, so I watched the US trailer for this film and they displayed reviews such as, "If the Oscars added a category for best action movie it would be a shoo-in", "Like Die Hard meets 24 by way of Taken" and "Crazy action that just doesn't quit".

After reading these reviews and watching the trailer, I thought this movie was going to pack a big punch and deliver along the lines that were portrayed in the reviews. I was very disappointed to find out that they were wrong. There is action in the movie, but it certainly isn't non-stop, and it takes a while to get there anyway. The reviews are very misleading and the narration from the trailer doesn't accurately describe what actually happens in the film. Do yourself a favor and do not watch this film with the idea that it is going to be an action packed thrill ride like Die Hard or Taken.

Okay, now back to what I enjoyed about the film. I felt like the story was very believable. I really liked how the entire movie took place in one location in a series of events that lasted just one day. I thought the acting was very good, especially from the lead, Tomer Sisley. I also thought the direction was good, especially during some of the fight scenes. I did have some issues, however, with the choreography on some of the fight scenes/gun fights. I felt it was well written and the delivery was good on all parts.

All in all, I really felt like it was a good movie. It just didn't live up to what I expected and what I was hoping for. I definitely recommend watching it, but I have to advise you to not get your hopes up and not to expect a gun blazing, ass-kicking fiesta.

This basically sums the whole plot.Now I must admit that I was expecting a father raising hell to rescue his son.In stead they go for a more realistic approach.Well,most of the time.And show a father that is desperate but limited in his actions because of the setting and is thinking about the aftermath.He is trying hard to avoid bloodshed. At times he managed to stay cool when others would have gone ballistic.But then there were moments he lost his cool.This was one of the strong points and at the same time a weak one. The actions of the main character (Tomer Sisly) are a bit uneven to say the least.I found it strange that Tomer remained so calm at times when just seconds before he lost it.Somebody so pumped with adrenalin would feel energized and keep on going.There are some scenes probably there to show the desperation.But to me they were ineffective and slowed the pace down when it needed to kick into high gear.Still we do feel for Tomer Sisly who is in this due to his own actions.But also because of an eager female cop who directly made a bad situation worse.Here is a character who decided to show initiative and then for the most time isn't capable of a simple coherent thought.Not once does she believe what Tomer says to her.At the same time she accepts every word from her superior even when the guy is clearly an ass.It helps to enhance the drama and the plot but I dislike it when within hours a character shows flat or contradicting behaviour.Most characters are a bit one dimensional which is a shame.Since a little depth to them would have increased the tension.One of the villains (Marciano played by Serge Riaboukine) who is very nasty but seems practical and at times even reasonable.But because of the one dimension he remains a cartoon like villain. Even when it is clear that the actor could easily make the character more interesting.On the other hand the focus here does lie on the desperation of a father and adding depth to other characters could have distracted us from that.In the end it does not matter much since Nuit Blance for the most part is a very effective action thriller that will keep you entertained throughout.

A very nice movie, with a perfect plot, very good actors and a big direction. An old American movie,"No Way Out", (Italian title is "Senza via di scampo") is in my opinion the most similar movie for rhythm and perfection of the plot. You can't stop to see, and you don't know never how the movie will can finish, can happen absolutely all. And the end is perfect too, a very, very nice and clever solution. The bad guys are very, very bad, there are some little moment of humor and the movie goes without a moment to stop ! Go to see and/or buy the movie if you like the crime-movies, it's surely a masterpiece of this kind! Or wait an year or less to see the remake that surely Hollywood will do very soon, even with Denzel Washington in the lead-role...

A lot of the reviewers here are apparently very satisfied about Nuit Blanche and that's their right. There is indeed a lot of action and you won't get bored for a second. But there are just too much things that make Nuit Blanche just an okay average action movie. There are some things that don't add up in the movie and some actors are not really that good. I don't know why you should pick a singer like Joey Starr as an actor. Probably because some kids are going to want to watch a movie with him in it but he's just not good enough to act. The action scenes are okay though even though I think that this movie would work much better with Bruce Willis or Liam Neeson instead. All in all it's fine to watch if you have nothing else to do on a Sunday afternoon. Don't expect too much though, just plain action with a so so scenario and acting.

This is more a bad action movie that happened to be French than a "French action movie". Story and characters are mostly stereotyped, the only innovative is the setting but that isn't enough to make a good movie. With acting and filming so-so, I think I am even generous with a .

Fantastic film. Really tight action thriller. Very well plotted, and very well executed. I saw another reviewer complain because it was not as action packed as the publicity misled him to believe. It just doesn't feel like an American action flick because it doesn't have famous international stars with overgrown muscles saying lapidary lines every time they shoot a bad guy. I love Die Hard too, don't get me wrong, but this is just a different kind of animal. This is reminiscent of Die Hard only in the high concept (one man against lots of bad guys in a confined environment); the tone is much more realistic and gritty. It's not a shoot them all in which they never run out of bullets either, nor a martial arts extravaganza, but action packed it is: it gets relentless. The action is just grounded. The hero here, or anti-hero, maybe, is not the best shot on earth, and is not stronger or a better fighter than anyone else, nor has any special "movie hero" skills. He's really human; he's just more desperate. But that's what makes the film so raw. The stakes feel real. The fights will have you twisting on your seat, not cheering as the hero makes mincemeat of anyone in his path a la Taken. It is not a wish-fulfillment ride, like most Hollywood action flicks, but precisely for that reason it is a very intense ride. It's really gripping. The plot devices (son in danger, etc) don't come out too cheesy and the actors make their characters very believable. The complexity of the plot is easy to follow despite the lack of expository dialog spoon-fed to the audience. We see what the hero sees, realize what he realizes. We realize indeed how bad the odds are for him and we wonder what could he possibly do, as the situation gets worse and worse. We understand the playground and are challenged to guess how is he going to use it. We get to know all the other characters and why they are desperate too, rising the stakes, and we keep peeling them off in layers, unveiling twists and double crossings in an exercise of one upmanship. They don't round it up with a beautiful bow in the end nor every little subplot is tied up with a saccharine sweet epilogue. It is abrupt enough, not complacent with us, while still delivering the required closure. In my view this just adds to the general grit. I highly recommend this film. It felt fresh. Not recognizing every actor also helped make it feel real. The modern day french setting with immigrants from everywhere also helped provide separation from the US or UK set cop dramas that we are used to watch here in the US. Sorry to rant. I just watched it on Netflix and felt compelled to come to IMDb and learn more about it (I had never heard of it before), and then to write this review.

Tension filled and rollercoaster of an action flick about a dirty cop who boosts a shipment of cocaine from some drug dealers and then finds his son kidnapped and held hostage until he returns the stolen drugs. The cop shows up at the drug dealer's nightclub to cut a deal and what ensues is an action and suspense filled game of cat and mouse that take place entirely at this one locations and all within the span of one night. Although the characters and story seem secondary to plot devices and action sequences, those action set pieces are a knockout! The action does not let up and that's what makes "Sleepless Night" so memorable. The handheld camera work and the more realistic of fight scene choreography give the film an edginess that is lacking from most polished Hollywood action flicks (i.e. Don Siegel vs. Michael Bay). the anxiety inducing suspense reminded me a lot of "Uncut Gems", so if you enjoyed that Adam Sandler film, you might also enjoy "Sleepless Night". Overall, I'm pretty excited to see what director Frédéric Jardin does next.

(2011) Sleepless Night/ Nuit blanche (In French with English subtitles) CRIME THRILLER/ SUSPENSE DRAMA

Co-written and directed by Frédéric Jardin, which opens with a couple of people tailing another car for the intention of stealing it's bag of dope. And of course, although they succeeded, not everything went accordingly. We soon find out later that the 2 people of Vincent (Tomer Sisley) and Manel (Laurent Stocker) who managed to steal that bag of dope at the opening, also happen to work for the French police, whose intention was to make a little extra money. But as soon as one of the 2 officers, Vincent learns that his son had been kidnapped, and is held for ransom, in exchange for the dope to be returned to the French cartels lead by night club owner, Jose Marciano (Serge Riaboukine). It becomes even more complicated when undercover officers are involved, as one of them takes the liberty by hiding that very bag that was supposed to be used for the exchange is hidden in a different spot. I like the theme, but I do not care for the execution as the movie consists of many brawls that are not too spectacular. The extra star is for it's originality and nothing else.

If you ever watched Kevin Costner in "No Way Out" and loved it, then watch this upgrade.

Wow, wow, wow ! I'll say just one thing : pay real good attention to the dialogues in the kitchen.

I intended to watch half this film one night and the rest the next night, as I needed to get up early for work. Forget that !!! This film grabbed me by the throat so intensely I had to watch it till the end and risk a bad day at work.

Top notch, from start to finish. The only time you will be able to relax and catch your breath is when you watch the opening credits !

OK. If your reading the reviews and people are telling you this movie is average or not good they are way off!! This movie has everything you want in a good flick. Love, fear, violence,a good twist and action. Its all woven together in to a plot that leaves you gripping the hand(s) of a loved one in anticipation of what will happen next. You will never guess who are the good guys and who are the bad guys as you watch this man in pursuit of what means everything to him. Watch how relentless he is, no matter the obstacle, no matter the threat, no matter the pain, and no matter the consequences.In the end you find out why this man is really being perused and you become even more touched by his sleepless night...

The latter years I've gotten more and more impressed with French action movies. At least those I've come too see here in Norway, and that's quite a few. I would go so far as saying that the French are now the leading action flick makers, and by far has passed both the Americans and the Brits. The French movies I've seen recently is full of action, we'll played and has a great touch of realism, which very often is not the case with the films coming out of Hollywood.

This film, "Sleepless night", is about to be remade in Hollywood I understand, and there's really no wonder why. This is action from start to finish, and the best action I've seen since "Headhunters". It's tight, exciting, down right dirty action, and still very realistically told. It's a drug heist gone wrong, exploding into a nightmare. Many of there has been with corrupt cops, which is a great genre in itself amongst these films. I guess it's a great premise that you don't know who you can trust, or rather, like in this. You know who you can't trust. Anyone!

We meet a divorced cop getting into trouble after a rather bad decision. He is seen after committing a theft of a load of drugs. As a direct following if this, his beloved teenage son is kidnapped by the gangster missing their drugs. This starts off a nightmare which you really shouldn't miss!

A roller coaster of bad decisions and bad people. Filmed in dirty raw, grainy film, stressed music, with hand-held camera, which I've rarely seen more well done. Not annoying, just realistically adding to the nerve of the story. A treat of a film which sucks you up right from the start. I'll keep checking out French action movies!

When it comes to action thrillers, French cinema has put out some really good stuff over the last couple of years. This is another example of great action thriller. A ride you want to take if you like movies with a high suspense level. It actually impressed Americans that much, that they made a remake of this one.

You can assume that the Remake is not as good as this, but if you don't like reading subtitles, then you might want to go check the Jamie Foxx version of this. This one is a roller-coaster that won't let you breathe. Once the action starts, there is no stopping. It's more about action and about getting things rolling. Still you got really good actors pulling things off. Sit back, watch and enjoy