Review: The Little Things
Friday, January 29, 2021 at 8:30PM by Matt St Clair
A movie like The Little Things probably would’ve done very well in the 90’s. A time when crime thrillers such as Se7en, and another Denzel Washington starrer The Pelican Brief, could thrive financially and when actors rather than superheroes were bonafide box office draws. Given how Denzel is one of the few A-listers left who can open a movie on his name alone, The Little Things might've made a decent profit in a pre-COVID world. Yet, given the film’s poor and dated quality, it would’ve been best to let it live in the past.
Once Kern County Deputy Sheriff Joe Deacon (Denzel Washington) teams with LA detective Jim Baxter (Rami Malek) to help him solve a string of serial killings...
The Little Things perpetuates the tireless crime thriller trope of the women are always murder victims. Even crime thrillers such as The Girl on the Train and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, which have a female protagonist at the center, involve them investigating a woman’s death.
If there’s one film cliche that The Little Things relievingly has, it’s a decent Denzel Washington performance. Saying that Denzel Washington gives a good performance is like saying water is wet, but Washington does give a good performance, giving this underwhelming thriller some mere greatness the way only a movie star of his caliber can. His co-stars don’t fare as well. Rami Malek is miscast as the tough-as-nails Det. Baxter while Jared Leto is incredibly static as Albert Sparma, the primary suspect, playing him as if he's a more stilted, less intimidating Hannibal Lecter.
Leto acts like he’s in a different film from his co-stars while the film experiences a mismatch in tone. It never knows whether it wants to be a mechanical cat-and-mouse thriller or a more meditative character drama about loss and regret. When it tries going the character drama route, that’s where the picture really shines. That's partially because of the heft of Washington’s performance and also because of his co-star Michael Hyatt; Her scenes with Washington are the picture’s only other highlight. Hyatt brings a fair amount of no-nonsense resolve to her portrayal of Flo Dunigan, a forensics scientist and old acquaintance of Duncan’s who helps him come to terms with his troubled past.
Those two performances are what keep The Little Things afloat. Other than that, The Little Things succumbs to a cookie-cutter thriller storyline and antiquated genre contrivances. It’s “little things” (yes, pun intended) like that which could've been fixed. C-
The Little Things is out now in theaters and streaming on HBOMax
Reader Comments (16)
Jared Leto... overrated and one of 2 reasons why method acting is dead. The second reason: Shia LaBeouf.
Denzel is very hammy since he became stage obsessed. Delicious honey baked ham, but ham nonetheless. (White critics are scared to admit it for some fragile virtue signalling reason)
Outside his Oscar movies, Denzel Washington's filmography falls short, and even some Oscar movies (Training Day, 1991, that gave him Oscar for best leading actor) aren't a big thing.
Denzel Washington is the greatest screen actor of his generation. Even slumming it in this John Lee Hancock procedural he shines.
His Macbeth this year is probably the main reason I want covid to be over and cinemas re-opened.
Denzel Washington is undoubtedly a talented actor, but the quality of his movies is quite uneven: for each Glory(1989), a film that I consider perfect in his filmography, he has three Virtuosity(1995), a forgettable film with Russell Crowe before fame. And more things like Ricochet(1991), Deja Vu(2006) and 2 Guns(2013). And I'm on the team that thinks he should have been nominated for an Oscar for Philadelphia(1993); in fact, he's better than Tom Hanks in that movie; in fact, he's a superior actor to Tom Hanks in my book. But he's careless with his own filmography.
When you're as talented as Denzel, you should be forgiven for making forgettable studio movies solely to cash a paycheque; not everyone is a Daniel Day-Lewis.
Washington is one of our most reliable stars but I wonder what he saw in this script. You make a point about women always being the victims in thrillers.
Denzel's acting couldn't be more boring this past decade, and I agree with Shenaynay, super hammy (though I wouldn't say always delicious and honey-baked). He was so amazing his first decade...now everything seems so self-aware and self-important.
Woof.
Love me some Washington in just about anything, but Leto and Malek are automatic passes for me. Do not understand the appeal of either, nor why they coasted to nearly every award known to humankind during their respective seasons.
I'll just spoil myself the ending. Haha!
I think that the only Denzel thriller I really, really like might be Gregory Hobblit's "Fallen"? Recheck it again and again... and it's not for his performance, love the cast (Elias Koteas, John Goodman, Donald Sutherland, Embeth Davis...)
Ever since the New York Times named Denzel the top actor of the century, and left Meryl Streep off the list completely, I keep wondering why. They are actually very similar. They work a lot and have their share of good films and bad films. They both are solid actors who almost always do a good job and elevate the material. They are sometimes hammy (August: Osage County, Fences) and perhaps are a bit too familiar to modern audiences. So, they are often accused of giving the same performances over and over again. So, I would say they are both great but to elevate one over the other is frankly crazy, when they are so similar in terms of talent and films.
Omg what was this ? Malek is terrible and Razzie worthy for this
I was so disappointed in this movie and that includes Denzel's performance. I wish critics and other arbiters of public perception wouldn't make films like this "important". Denzel is uneven in my opinion. He soars with August Wilson, and I look forward greatly to his Macbeth. But his formula movies are a big snooze.
When Rami Malek appeared on screen playing a supposed tough guy, I thought "uh-oh". He was terribly miscast. I didn't stick with the movie long enough to see Jared. I'm in my late 60's and don't suffer wasted time with a movie gladly.
Can I ask a stupid question? How is this up for Oscar contention this year (for whatever reason I keep seeing Leto's name pop up as a potential "surprise" for Supporting Actor) when it's a 2021 release? What am I missing?
I really wanted to like this movie because I grew up watching movies made before CGI and superhero mania. I can watch a movie that tells a good story and enjoy it. I didn't understand Denzel's character being allowed to be part of an investigation that was out of his jurisdiction. The story wasn't smooth; it clunked along. Rami Malek was not good in this role. I do love when Denzel chews gum in a movie. I think that's the best thing I can say about this.
JamesMichael - The Academy extended the release eligibility period into 2021. Yeah, I don't know why either.
I watched this last night solely because of I think Leto is a strong possibility for an Oscar nom, and I didn't want to miss the chance to see it for free before it disappears from HBO Max. The only saving grace here is Denzel. He elevated a one-star movie to a two-star movie and kept me watching to the end.
If Leto gets nominated, it will be the worst nomination in that category in modern memory, worse by far than Tucci in The Lovely Bones or Duvall in The Judge (at least they are good actors generally). All the "no range" criticism ought to be launched at him. Could he play a good-guy dad or an inspiring teacher? I doubt it.