‘Sleepless' a moody but rote cop thriller

At least since the 2009 film “Taken,” the dad-to-the-rescue action movie has been a staple of the winter release calendar. “Sleepless,” a sort-of-remake of the French thriller “Sleepless Night,” represents Jamie Foxx’s foray into late-midcareer Neesonism.

Foxx plays Vincent Downs, a Las Vegas homicide detective whose teenage son (Octavius J. Johnson) is snatched by drug dealers.

Or, more precisely, by guys who work for the guy (Dermot Mulroney) who works for the main drug dealer (Scoot McNairy).

Vincent and his partner, Sean (T.I.), have stolen 25 kilos of cocaine for reasons as murky as the movie’s nighttime cinematography.

Vincent tries to return it, but his plans are complicated by the doggedness of an internal affairs officer named Jennifer Bryant (Michelle Monaghan).

She has a partner (David Harbour, a walking spoiler alert). Vincent has an ex-wife (Gabrielle Union, deserving better in every way).

At the beginning, Jennifer and Vincent are shown with matching cuts on their cheekbones. By the end, they will both be much bloodier.

Vincent, stabbed in the gut when his son is taken, will be battered with hotel-kitchen utensils and other weapons during a long and hectic night at a dimly-lighted casino.

“Sleepless,” directed by Baran bo Odar, sets a low bar for itself, and then trips over it.

What audiences want - what we deserve - from a movie like this isn’t greatness, but competence. Reasonably exciting chases and fights; characters with at least minimal credibility; performances with a measure of wit, flair or intensity.

Instead we get muttering and glowering from Foxx, a story that can’t manage enough twists to tie a shoelace, and set pieces that have been done better in other movies.

If the thing weren’t so noisy, it might not even live up to its title.