Rated: M
Directed / Written and Produced by: John Lee Hancock
Produced by: Mark Johnson
Starring: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto, Natalie Morales.
“It’s the little things that get you caught.”
I know there’s some heavy hitters here – director John Lee Hancock (“The Founder,” “Saving Mr. Banks,” “The Blind Side”); and three Academy Award winning actors, but, The Little Things felt like a film that didn’t know if it wanted to be a drama or a crime thriller.
Deke (Denzel Washington) is a man recovering. He’s been suspended, divorced and has had a triple bypass – all in six months. He’s not a detective that let’s go of a case.
Fast forward five years and Deke is in uniform, called back to LA on an errand. Back to his old precinct where the chief is not happy about his return.
But some of his old buddies are happy to see him, remembering the old him. The one who got the job done.
His replacement, Jim Baxter (Rami Malek), a god-fearing golden child, knows there’s rumours about him.
“You’re a popular guy,” he jokes.
But Baxter will take any help he can get, the pressure on with a current case of four dead. And no suspects.
The foundation of the story is the two cops getting to know each other as they chase leads while unraveling the mystery of Deke’s past.
The film becomes more crime drama than crime thriller. The violence watered down. For me, taking away any suspense.
The murders they’re investigating are never seen, the terror of the crimes never a focus, just a car following behind, the splatter of blood across a crime scene or the ghosts of the dead still haunting.
The characters are the story so the mystery of the crime takes a back seat.
I admit, I prefer crime movies with more grit.
The soundtrack didn’t help. There’s no build, just a background giving that feeling of thinking while the cops try to figure out the crime, and each other.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s a strong performance here from Denzel, the chemistry between Deke and Baxter a good hook with some further interest thrown in with Jared Leto as the bad guy, his slow reptilian stare unsettling.
But the lack of any visceral violence or any real suspense left his bad character more comical (on purpose) at times, than scary. He’s right on that edge and with more grit he would have been outright terrifying. But again, it felt like the film was filtered. Making this a more cerebral viewing. And yes there are some clever moments.
But the pacing didn’t build those aha moments so although there’s some satisfaction, the story gets lost leaving the feeling of a missed opportunity.
