After two slower and somewhat tranquil films, finally again, something that looks like it’ll have those meaty stakes I can sink my teeth into. I thought One Direction had already taught me everything I’d need to know about the ‘little things’ but evidently there’s more to learn… ah, my jokes are getting worse and worse. On the surface level, The Little Things appears to be a generic crime thriller, but Jared Leto is nominated for a Golden Globe, so perhaps it’s something more. Plus, three past Academy Award winners in Denzel Washington, Rami Malek and Jared Leto? This might be something more.
Directed by John Lee Hancock, rural deputy Sheriff Joe Deacon (Denzel Washington) is sent back to his former department in Los Angeles to collect some phooey evidence, where he once was a detective. While there, he runs into old friends, and the newest up-and-coming detective Jim Baxter (Rami Malek), with an air of self-importance and a curiosity that comes from finally putting a face to Deacon, a cop infamous for his method and attention to detail. For old times’ sake, and motivated by wanting to learn from the old dog at work, Baxter invites Deacon along to a fresh crime scene, adding to a serial killer case that Baxter cannot crack. The bear is poked, and suddenly Deacon is taking holiday leave from his current job and helping work this case in his own time, which could also be connected to the last murder Deacon worked before being relocated; a case he worked so hard it gave him a heart-attack and sent him obsessive. After some time, all suspects lead to Jared Leto’s character, Albert Sparma, but proving it is going to be trouble.
I had problems with this movie from the jump, and it took me a while to put my finger on it until I realised that the characters are terrible – for my synopsis above, I’ve beefed up the characterisation a tiny bit because nothing is resoundingly communicated. Deacon can be drudging, while a few too many intentional question marks hang over his head, that the movie wants to address in its own time. But I’m especially annoyed by Baxter; with his snappy suit, Malek has him stiffly smooth, but until Sparma pushes him to make quick decisions later on, Baxter is pretty nothing. If he was presented more like Ed Exley (Guy Pearce) from L.A. Confidential, or in another way similarly, ambitious with a clean white ideology, he would have been more interesting – I get that might have been the movie’s intention, through introducing Baxter proactively getting Deacon’s car towed, and showing Baxter as comfortable out in the public eye doing press conferences. But I don’t know if it’s purely Malek’s characterisation, Hancock’s direction, the script, or something else, but I thought Baxter was as investing as an inactive frog in a pond; think Warner Bros. Michigan J. Frog in his off-time. And without effective characterisation, The Little Things is made up from contrived and plodding scenes narrowly held together with an admittedly effective crime-noir score. Then, Sparma turns up, and breathes some life into this movie; the first scene where Washington, Malek and Jeto are together is an interrogation scene, and it’s the most exciting scene of the movie. If only the movie had spent its time wiser sooner, making Deacon and Baxter people that I believed in, liked, or cared about as worthy adversaries before coming face-to-face with this potential killer and wily maniac. I think of Se7en, where Morgan Freeman’s Somerset is wise and tired, and Brad Pitt’s Mills is green and brash; together, they are ill-prepared for Kevin Spacey’s John Doe, Somerset knows it, but the audience is invested and truly compassionate with this unlikely duo’s challenge to succeed. Here, and on my first impression, the chemistry ain’t there; it’s choppy, and at times I bitterly laughed thinking that there’s no doubt that Sparma has or will have these men outfoxed.
Positively, at least The Little Things works as an appetiser for the upcoming Sony Marvel movie Morbius, where I was already confident Leto will make a fine fit. But being so good here, it also kinda shines further shade on how poorly his turn was as the Joker in Suicide Squad; what a double-edged dagger, but best to focus forwards, and never backwards. Leto is so good at being this calmly intense predator it’s as if the Joker’s outward antics were never going to be a good idea; I like hindsight. Wait for the Snyder Cut to make a fool out of me too. Leto characterises Sparma with a straight-legged walk, like he has shotty hips and is mad at the world about it. Leto is given time to savour his dialogue, and provide stares that could pierce a black hole; he’s certainly very convincing at giving those bad vibes.
Like most bad movies, there’s a genesis of a few good ideas here, and I believe this could have been a story well told if not for the state it’s dished up in. The idea that detectives who take a call on a body must carry the weighted load and responsibility for that person’s justice until the killer is found; I like that. Considering the amount of police procedurals on television over the past two decades, anytime a serial killer crime noir movie comes around, it’s already battling uphill to uncover any originality at all, and this has some. The Little Things offers something different in its resolution too, leaving the murder investigation unresolved, open to speculation. Are we meant to wonder if Deacon might have been the murderer? I reckon he might have you know, and if I let it, it’s going to nag at me – ‘it’s the little things’, like by putting the victims pictures up on his wall, he is reliving the crimes too. He returns to the crime scenes often, like he says the killer would too. Maybe Sparma was the perfect patsy as a known crime buff. If I rewatched The Little Things tomorrow I might be able to build a solid case that it’s our killer who’s attempting to solve the crime before our eyes; but do I want to watch The Little Things again? Not ahead of like, 7,000 other movies. Because at the end of the day, I conclude The Little Things is like Se7en without teeth.
2.0
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