The Little Things movie review

MOVIE TITLE: The Little Things

Now available on HBO MAX

RATING: R

LENGTH: 2 hours 7 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: B-

IN A NUTSHELL:

This dramatic crime thriller was written and directed by John Lee Hancock and stars Academy Award winners Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, and Jared Leto. Wow, what a powerhouse cast. I adore all of those actors. Warner Brothers has been pushing for awards for this film and, while the cast features 3 Oscar winners, the script and direction fail the talented actors. The result is a detective movie that is more underwhelming than it should have been.

THINGS I LIKED:

I adore Denzel Washington. Who doesn’t? He actually earned over $20 million upfront for this film!
Jared Leto is a versatile performer in movies, as well as the lead vocalist in his band “Thirty Seconds to Mars.” His character was the most entertaining one by far. Creepy and funny. Once he appears on the screen, you finally get that fun cat-and-mouse feeling you want in a crime drama. What was up with the fake nose though?
I adore Rami Malek, but it was hard to connect with his character. His performance was great, but the script didn’t allow the audience to really understand him.
Nice musical soundtrack, as well as the musical score by Thomas Newman.
There’s a twist. I love twists! While watching, you know there is more than meets the eye in this detective movie, which causes you to keep watching.
It’s more of a character study than a movie that really cares about the plot. It provides more psychological tension than mystery.
Intriguing opening scene.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

Writer/director John Lee Hancock wrote this screenplay almost 30 years ago! While I love many of his other movies, this film actually needed more work.
Despite the many murders, the movie is a slow burn. Of course, the slowness of it is part of the point. Detective work mostly consists of waiting and driving and wondering and thinking.
The storyline is a bit confusing and messy.
Each scene seems to bring more questions. Quite a few of them don’t ever get answered.
Some viewers say the ending is “unsatisfying.” I’d love to hear what YOU think! Comment below!
Act 1 gets you going. Act 2 is a bore. Act 3 is a disaster. The ending is ambiguous, not in a clever way, but in a poorly-written way.
The movie is long and felt like it. Some scenes could have easily been shaved off.
As a detective movie, it doesn’t offer enough thrills or twists to stand up next to other films that did it so much better, like Seven (1995).
The time period of this movie was super vague.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

You see several dead, naked, bloodied woman
Profanity and F-bombs
Kids will be completely bored. So will some adults.

THEMES:

Confronting your past
Everyone’s imperfect
How far would you go to catch a criminal?
Pride in your job
Justice
Trusting your gut

INTERESTING LINES:

“A lot of things have changed since you left.” – Jim Baxter (Rami Malek) “Still gotta catch them, right? Things haven’t changed that much.” – Joe “Deke” Deacon (Denzel Washington)
“It’s the little things that are important, Jimmy. It’s the little things that’ll get you caught.” – Joe “Deke” Deacon (Denzel Washington)
“We work the case. That’s all we can do. It’s like fishing.” – Joe “Deke” Deacon (Denzel Washington)