An unsuspecting young woman on a lonely highway at night is chased down by a faceless man who keeps a a bag with duct tape and rope in his trunk. He’s done this before. The gets off to a good start and sets the tone early, but never finds it way back. Halfway through The Little Things, I felt like it was missing that “it” factor, that something that could have made it special. The second half of the movie only confirmed the shortcomings. You’d hope a movie like this would be more than just the sum of its parts but, even with plenty of star power, it came across flat.
Detective stories are nothing new and go hand-in-hand with murder mysteries but, if you’re going to go to the well, you should probably bring something original with you. This story sees former ace detective for the LA County Sheriff’s department, John Deacon, pushing papers at his new post in Bakersfield until an evidentiary pick-up brings him back to the city. Once he’s back in LA, the myth-building begins as the new hot-shot that replaced him works a murder case that’s eerily similar to the one that sent ‘Deke’ out of town.
The movie isn’t as bad as some would suggest but it’s way too dependant on its cast to carry the burden of the story. Even with a very common detective-centric setup, there aren’t enough in the way of divergent wrinkles. Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, and Jared Leto are all good, by far the best part of the film, even though they are painted into mostly cliched character portraits. There’s a simmering tension between the three of them and their chemistry is strong, but there isn’t nearly enough of the stuff that makes it worthwhile.
John Lee Hancock’s script intentionally withholds that stuff as a slow burn tactic and that makes sense when there’s a payoff, but that’s not the case here. Hancock’s direction has a familiar style but doesn’t reward the viewer in any way, so the end of the movie leaves you with a void that can’t be filled. If he had gotten there by accident it’d be one thing but it was all designed to sell the audience wolf tickets. It’s asking a lot of the viewer to invest in the characters and their stories only to short change it all at the end. Stories that lack resolution can work given the moral lesson or emotional meaning are substantive, but I wouldn’t say that’s the case here. In many ways, it’s almost the antithesis of Seven.
I can understand why people didn’t like it, but I still wouldn’t label it a “bad movie”. The cinematography, score, costuming, all the production elements were solid. However, even with all that, The Little Things still felt a bit empty and maybe that’s worse than calling it a bad movie. I think it’ll have its audience, but it’s fair to say it didn’t live up to expectations.
Recommendation: If you’re into detective movies and serial killers, there’s enough to get you on board. See it for the performances and don’t set your expectations too high.