Movie Breakdown: The Little Things
Pre-Screening Stance:
The Little Things looks pretty great on paper. It features a trio of stars – Denzel Washington, Jared Leto, Rami Malek – and it’s directed by John Lee Hancock (Saving Mr. Banks, The Blind Side). However, the trailer pretty much makes it feel like a Seven rip off, so there’s also that to consider.
Post-Screening Ramble:
I’ll give The Little Things this, it does a great job of drawing you in. Its story is one you’ll be familiar with if you’ve ever seen Seven, The Bone Collector or the like – Joe Deacon (Denzel Washington) is a detective turned deputy who’s still hung up on an old case, and Jim Baxter (Rami Malek) is a hot shot, young-ish detective with a new case that’s likely connected to the one that “Deke” can’t move on from. The two men, of course, get to collaborating and their combined expertise puts them on the trail of the film’s baddie, Albert Sparma (Jared Leto).
Frankly, The Little Things doesn’t really bother with trying to make you think the murderous fella that Deke and Baxter are after could be anyone but Sparma, which is fine, I guess, since the the film does seem less interested in the crimes at the center of its story and more geared towards letting Washington, Malek and Leto interact as much as possible. This works, to a degree, as Washington is on the all-time list when it comes to watchable actors, and his staunch every man qualities are only further enhanced by the scene-chewing performances from Malek and Leto. Where there’s a big issue though is that the film ultimately ends up being all fluff. Its triangle of stars bounce off of each other so well and the film holds a fairly quick pace, but writer/director John Lee Hancock lets his taut thriller go slack in the third act, so its conclusion winds up feeling rushed and truncated. All crime thrillers need that big “we did it” moment, and this film throws that away and instead offers up something, I think, that’s supposed to be shocking, but it’s more “Oh, OK.”
I do think this movie is an overall entertaining watch, but you should know going in that it does have a point where it fizzles and you’ll likely be left feeling disappointed. Lower those expectations and you may be fine. The movie will debut on HBO Max this Friday, January 29.
One Last Thought:
I realize it’s a fairly petty thing, but Rami Malek’s entire mouth is a total distraction for me. As the internet once pointed out, he “always looks like he’s trying to eat chips as quietly as possible.”
