The Little Things

THE LITTLE THINGS 

By Jack Cheney

The Little Things is a new crime thriller film starring Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, and Jared Leto as three men pulled into the investigation by the Los Angeles police department in their hunt for an elusive serial killer responsible for the murders of five women. While that storyline might sound a little formulaic, The Little Things’ stellar cast and eerie atmosphere keep it going at a decent enough pace.

The movie begins with a great opening, revealing a 1990’s Los Angeles and surrounding area terrorized by a modern day Jack the Ripper. That opening is one of the best scenes of the whole movie, as it shows exactly what screenplay writer and director John Lee Hancock is attempting to show: a city terrorized by a killer on par with the Night Stalker. However, after this opening, the movie starts to stall in some areas. We meet our main character, Joe Decan, played by the always brilliant Denzel Washington. But it feels rushed when he heads to L.A. to meet with other Academy Award winner Rami Malek (formerly Freddy Mercury from Bohemian Rhapsody), to see if they can gather any more clues on who the killer may be. As the film progresses, it does a decent job of showing what active detective work would look like in the mid- 90s. Decan is a man out of his time and is doing everything old school, which leads him to the fantastic Jared Leto, playing the prime suspect Albert Sparma. After this discovery, however, the movie starts to lose itself. Now that they have the prime suspect, what is there to do now? After a little bit more chugging through the midway, the ending leaves something to be desired. 

In summation, The Little Things has a truly stellar cast, but the pacing seems to falter in many areas, with a disappointing ending. It really is a shame, as I personally was looking forward to this film. Thankfully, with Washington, Malek, and Leto as the three leads, along with realistic portrayals of two very different approaches to investigations, it still has many interesting moments.

Final Verdict: 7/10