Editor’s Note: Jared Leto scored a 2021 Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture as of this publication.
The Little Things is the first film up from the slate of 2021 Warner Bros. films that will be released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max.
This film is a throwback to the psychological thrillers of the 90s, such as Se7en. The film even takes place in the 90s. It’s evident as we see beepers and payphones featured in the movie. The film was a passion project for writer/director John Lee Hancock who wrote the script back in 1993. He originally wanted Steven Spielberg to direct it, but he passed on it as he felt it was too dark. Despite its familiarity, I enjoyed this film for the most part, minus some issues.
The film follows two police detectives, one a Kern County deputy (Denzel Washington), who is obsessively detail-minded and willing to break the rules. The other is an LA detective (Rami Malek), a clean and straight vice detective. They clash over an investigation into a serial killer, with their prime suspect being played by Jared Leto.
The film’s saving grace and its most vital aspect were the performances from the trio of Oscar winners who led the way. Denzel Washington was solid as usual. There was nothing special about his performance as he’s played these kinds of cop/detective roles so often in films such as Fallen, Devil In A Blue Dress, Out Of Time, and Deja Vu, to name a few. It’s the type of role that he can play in his sleep. The most significant praise I can give him is kudos for his impressive repertoire with Rami Malek. Their pairing works – he’s a classic crime thriller veteran partnering up with a young buck.
In his first performance since winning his Oscar for Bohemian Rhapsody, Rami Malek was a bit better than Denzel. I found his character to be more exciting and a bit more mysterious.
The film moved me at times. I started guessing if there was a twist in store where Malek could secretly kill the killer. No spoilers here. Whether he does or not, it was just a feeling I had while watching. While I’m sure his villain performance in the delayed continuously Bond film, No Time To Die would have been a better follow up, I feel this was a safer choice as it gave him two great actors to work off of in a safer role. It was good to see him play an average Joe.
Jared Leto gave the best performance in the film. He was that good. Fair warning to viewers who mainly wanted to see this for him, he doesn’t appear until about an hour into the film. However, be patient because once Leto finally appears on the screen, he makes up for the lost time. He is so chilling in this role and was perfectly cast. No offense, but he knows how to play weird and creepy well. I loved seeing him toy with Washington and Malek. As you can tell, he enjoyed it because he knew how to get under both their skins even inciting an outburst from them in the film.
Seeing his performance here makes me wish he was used better in Suicide Squad because his Joker could have been something special. His performance also gave me major Charles Manson vibes. If they ever make a new Helter Skelter film, he should get cast. Ironically his character even owns a copy of the book.
John Lee Hancock is best known for his crowd-pleasing inspirational sports films such as The Rookie and The Blind Side. He was a bit out of his realm here, but this is a lot better than his previous film, The Highwaymen, which was a big disappointment and followed a story of cops. He handled the cop aspects a lot better this time around, keeping me guessing, as I always kept trying to imagine certain things.
While his direction is solid, his script was full of cop thriller clichés. As stated earlier, he wrote the script back in 1993, and it seems he never polished the script since it just feels too close to films of that era. Since we’ve seen so many similar films that did things better, it ultimately weakens this film. Had this came out back in the 90s, it could have gone down as one of the better ones.
My biggest issue with the film was the pacing. The movie was about 15 minutes longer than it needed to be. Many things from the first act could have trimmed to bring in Jared’s character sooner, as the film picked up a lot once he comes into the picture. The film also loses a lot of steam in the last 20 minutes, with the ending feeling very unsatisfying. It might work, but I ultimately ended up feeling mixed about it as it made me go from loving the film to merely liking it.
The film could have been a minor January hit if times had been normal, and this is undoubtedly better than a lot of the bad movies we are used to seeing in this graveyard month. Ultimately, The Little Things was a solid thriller that feels right at home at HBO Max, as this feels like a streaming film more than one that needs to be seen on the big screen.
