The Little Things

This review may contain spoilers!

 

The Little Things follows Deputy Sheriff Joe Deacon as he steadily becomes embroiled in a serial killer investigation that may link to a case he worked years ago. This features does a great amount of work to leave you guessing for a long time, playing to Deacon's capable knowledge but shadowed past, while also highlighting Baxter's drive to close the case before federal involvement as significant motivating factors in the feature. You were never sure is the protagonists could be trusted, or even if they could be trusted together; in a lot of ways the more they leaned on each other the further down the rabbit hole they went. I liked watching this approach to crime-solving, in which these two officers were so desperate to see justice done at all costs that it blinded them to how much they were getting swallowed whole by the case itself. The film succeeds because the two investigators are so competent and thorough, this is a high profile case that is failing to be solved but the manner in which it is being painstakingly examined is a major hook. The cinematography throughout is quite dynamic, often dealing some smooth tracks or panning for chase/drive sequences while also presenting some close-knit claustrophobic shots for dialogue sequences. The editing has this slow and steady drive forwards with cutting that keeps moderately good pacing; some of the transitions in this feature are really inspired and only add to the mysterious tone. The score for the film will have you on tenterhooks, its this light persistent sound that grows ever more frantic as the case goes further and further awry on our two protagonists.

 

Rami Malek, who played Jim Baxter, is extremely great to watch as the co-lead hotshot detective in the film; Malek has this air of expertise about him that he very carefully chips away at and allows to crack apart over the duration of the feature. Chris Bauer, who played Detective Sal Rizoli, delivers a classic seasoned likeable cop role; he has a warm on-screen relationship with Washington that allows you to glimpse into their respective pasts nicely. Michael Hyatt, who played Flo Dunigan, is quite a soft role who likes to be gentle and reminisce; she often plays to be disgruntled by her work and the sour past between her role and Washington which makes her a very intriguing watch in the film. Terry Kinney, who played LASD Captain Carl Farris, is a stern leader with little love for Washington and a lot of favour for Malek; Kinney plays his role very assertively and speaks his mind to the point making him an extremely believable police captain performance.

 

However, the best performance came from Denzel Washington, who played Joe 'Deke' Deacon. This is a seasoned actor who very rarely picks a bad script, and even in such situations often displays a talent that raises the quality of the film. In The Little Things Washington portrays a man who is no longer a seasoned investigator, he works with minor crimes and is scorned by a significant number of his former officers. But in spite of this, Deke is a man who seems quietly confident and sure of himself, an individual who is career-focused and maintains a sort of stoic discipline about his work. Yet as Deke becomes entangled in this serial killer investigation, we see Washington portray this extraordinarily driven quality that seems unlike the other officers. This is a role obsessed with righting the wrongs in his past, trying to find forgiveness for something that happened to him a long time ago. And as we delve deeper and deeper into the film it is interesting to see just how much the balance of power between Washington and Malek switches, up to the point that Washington's role calls the shots. It's a powerful performance and another strong leading character for Washington.

 

The Little Things stumbles when it introduces the main suspect of the serial killer case: Albert Sparma. This sia role who plays up to the fact he has a lot of knowledge about how crimes work and he seems to have an inkling that the police have nothing on him. The more this fast-talking jokester gets to play around on-screen the less grounded this murder investigation feels. Really by having the film lean heavily on Sparma as the main antagonist it takes the thrill of the mystery away from the viewer and leaves them with this one-liner weirdo who resembles a generic serial killer bad guy. There is also this compulsion to link Deacon's past with the present day mystery and this storyline flounders quite a bit, eventually revealing itself in quite a disappointing manner. Furthermore the film ends on this theme in which the police protagonists cover up the murder of the key suspect, providing a very uninspired theme around the ends justifying the means. It's a very outdated theme in relation to the police authorities and the abrupt delivery means the film gambles a lot on the successful impact of this moment. But as a viewer I found it quite a jarring conclusion to an otherwise well-concocted story; it felt like an impressive narrative was interrupted for a lesser moment and the ending became entirely that one moment. It's a very common problem with thrillers, finding that satisfying moment in which your mystery becomes something worth being enthralled in. Unfortunately for The Little Things, that moment never came.   

 

Jared Leto, who played Albert Sparma, is the glaring weak link in the film to me; I found Leto to overperform his role's confidence and ego to a point in which the narrative lost its grounded quality. Natalie Morales, who played Detective Jamie Estrada, leaned on the stereotypical tough exterior with her role a bit too much; in scenes filled with similar cop characters Morales unfortunately fell into the background.

 

In spite of an exceptionally underwhelming conclusion, this is a masterfully constructed thriller with a brilliant sense of style. I would give The Little Things a 7/10.