The Little Things (2021)

The Little Things: Directed by John Lee Hancock. With Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto, Chris Bauer. Kern County Deputy Sheriff Joe Deacon is sent to Los Angeles for what should have been a quick evidence-gathering assignment. Instead, he becomes embroiled in the search for a serial killer who is terrorizing the city.

“u0026quot;Itu0026#39;s the little things that get you caught,u0026quot; Deke, played by Denzel Washington, tells Rami Maleku0026#39;s character Jimmy. u0026quot;Itu0026#39;s the little things that rip you apart.u0026quot; Unfortunately, I found that second sentiment particularly resonant as I watched u0026quot;The Little Things.u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;The Little Thingsu0026quot; had a phenomenal trailer, very nuanced, well lit, choreographed, acted, and most importantly, well edited. Of course, the trailer was only two minutes long. How does the actual film, which is over two hours long, compare? Surely any movie that expands on the technical prowess and acting chops that the trailer set up will be fantastic! The movie does expand on all of the pieces the trailer introduced – in doing so, u0026quot;The Little Thingsu0026quot; takes one step forward, and two steps back. Admittedly, the movie looks good visually; the cinematography is appropriately moody, with dim lighting for the majority of the running time that casts an ominous shadow over its characters.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe acting, too, is incredible. Iu0026#39;ve seen mixed reviews on Rami Maleku0026#39;s acting in this movie, but I thought he was great, if a little mumbly, which did make it hard to understand him (thank you subtitles). Denzel Washington is, as always, great. He puts on a quiet performance here that takes its time with viewers – you can tell thereu0026#39;s something below this character thatu0026#39;s waiting to bubble up. Denzel is a professional, and he acts like one; every word out of his mouth feels believable, every action he takes feels realistic for his character. Watching him and Malik collaborate to catch a killer is truly entertaining – Deke sucks Jimmy into his obsessive mindset, and itu0026#39;s interesting watching both of them fall deeper into the rabbit hole theyu0026#39;ve dug for themselves.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eJared Leto as the might be, might not be killer is fascinating. Now granted, I may be biased because I like Jared Leto, but I thought he was pretty good in the role. His character was perfectly bizarre, always keeping Deke and Jimmy on their toes. Sure, Jaredu0026#39;s character may act like a complete weirdo, but is he a killer? The movie keeps you, and its characters, guessing, which I appreciated. The story, which obviously focuses on these three characters, is elevated by the amazing performances. In a better film, I could see some serious Oscar contenders.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eYes, I did say u0026quot;in a better film,u0026quot; because u0026quot;The Little Thingsu0026quot; does start to fall flat. Letu0026#39;s talk about the editing – did Olivier Megaton secretly direct this? Who decided on the editing style of this movie? There were a distracting amount of cuts in practically every single scene – for example, a scene where Denzel says goodbye to his dog before getting in his car has probably upwards of ten cuts. Similarly, a scene where Deke and Jimmy are eating breakfast has probably 20 cuts. There is rapid fire editing at play here, and Iu0026#39;m not sure the reason why. The film wouldu0026#39;ve greatly benefited from a slow and steady editing style that allowed the camera to linger on its scenes and characters; instead, we get something akin to Paul Greengrass, which definitely doesnu0026#39;t fit the tone of the movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBecause of that, tonally, the movie is inconsistent. The pace feels all over the place, with the film only picking up when Jared Letou0026#39;s character comes in the picture. Unfortunately, he starts to play a major role about an hour or more into the movie, which means you spend a majority of this filmu0026#39;s length focusing on nothing really memorable. Additionally, the movie felt too short, even though it was over two hours long. There had to be scenes cut out of here, perhaps even scenes that further expanded as to why Deke and Jimmy were so obsessed over Jared Letou0026#39;s character. It seems like they pick him as a suspect out of thin air; as you hear in the trailer, they find him suspicious because his car has high mileage. Thatu0026#39;s it? After Deke discovers this, they seem laser focused on nailing Letou0026#39;s character, and I was wondering if I somehow missed another clue or piece of evidence that made Deke and Jimmy get so fixated.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI did really enjoy the ending and overall message of the movie – this is definitely not a crowd-pleaser, and I commend the so different approach that the movie took. However, I really canu0026#39;t excuse the awful editing and the stagnant pace. In a better movie, the first hour wouldu0026#39;ve been the first 30 minutes, with Letou0026#39;s character being introduced early to build the tension and obsession of Jimmy and Deke. However, because u0026quot;The Little Thingsu0026quot; spends its first hour on nothing too significant, by the time Jaredu0026#39;s character is finally introduced youu0026#39;ll wonder what the movie can possibly pull out of its hat to keep you interested now that itu0026#39;s almost over. u0026quot;The Little Thingsu0026quot; is a film with great performances and a really interesting premise that is brought way down by its editing, pacing, and tonal inconsistency. Itu0026#39;s a perfectly watchable film, but with this cast, it shouldu0026#39;ve been much better than it ends up being.”