The Little Things (2021)

The Little Things (2021)

4/10

Starring

Denzel Washington

Rami Malek

Jared Leto

Directed by John Lee Hancock

The Little Things is very unsatisfying. The movie reminds you of a lot of cool psychological thrillers, then you get to the new guy inviting the old guy to his house, and you place that psychological thriller. This movie is a bad Seven (1995) wannabe. Seven stars Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt, and this movie feels like someone saw Seven and wanted to make their own film with the same dark feel.

In this movie, we have an old detective (Denzel Washington as Deke) leading the new guy (Rami Malek as Jim) around. The movie wastes so much time and mystery going over the old guy’s past rather than investigating. Hell, I got so tired of the flashbacks and references to what happened in the past that I wondered if the present situation mattered at all. For the sake of the time I had already invested in this movie, I had to stay attentive so I wouldn’t lose sight of the present situation.

Allow this amateur reviewer to speak more about this movie. You see, in the end, the movie just glazes over the necessary investigating by these so-called bad-ass detectives. Then it links up Deke’s past with Jim’s future, and the movie ends without satisfying any need to see it.

The movie starts with a lady getting away from a man we suspect is out to hurt her. Then we jump ahead to Deke trying to gather some evidence in a situation where everyone he speaks to seems to want him to leave. Soon, Deke has a run-in with the new detective filling the space he left behind—Jim. It so happens Deke used to be a detective, a really good one, until a series of murders got him obsessed and ruined his life. He had to step down from the job and take another as a deputy sheriff elsewhere. He and Jim don’t hit it off at first, but a string of murders similar to the one Deke was obsessed with in the past brings them to the same plate.

The movie then takes deeper dives into Deke’s past, and we get to know why he is so obsessed with the case. Then they find a suspect, a certain man named Sparma (Jared Leto), who is so weird and strange that he ticks all the boxes. The two become so glued to Sparma that it turns into something else. What that is, I’ll advise you to read the spoilers and stop there.

One good thing the movie has is three lead characters who play to their strengths. Denzel plays the old guy who has seen it all, Rami plays the annoying new guy who is ready to work with anyone to get the job done, and then there’s Leto, who plays the psycho that makes you feel creepy inside.

Written, produced, and directed by John Lee Hancock, this is a movie I will not be recommending to anyone, even die-hard fans of Denzel or the other two.