The Little Things

Now for another film that Steven Spielberg could've directed. It's a murder mystery called The Little Things, which was written in the 90s by John Lee Hancock. The final result has Hancock direct his own script. Was it worth the wait? Maybe.

1990. Joe "Deke" Deacon (Denzel Washington) is a deputy sheriff in Bakersfield. One day, his superiors send him to his old precinct in Los Angeles to collect some murder evidence. His short stay is extended when he's tasked to solve a new killing spree. He's partnered with detective Jim Baxter (Rami Malek) for the investigation. Deke lost his old L.A. job over a previous murder investigation. These new killings are evidently the work of the previous killer.

Their investigation points to eccentric repairman and "crime buff" Albert Sparma (Jared Leto). Either he knows everything, but he won't tell, or he's wasting valuable time by pretending to know everything. That's what the interrogations point to. Our heroes have to solve the case before the killer decides to strike again. 

The film starts off strong with an attempted victim (Sofia Vassilieva) escaping the killer. A tense scene unlike what comes next. Sure, there's some decent chemistry with Deke and Baxter during their investigation. But the story's relaxed pace is anything but tense. There's nothing to shake the plot forward except the FBI coming in. That bad? Compare this to Seven (which many reviewers did, as it was written around the same time), which had a killer with a clear M/O, or The Silence of the Lambs, which had a victim in need of saving. Those are better stakes.

I've got a bit to say about the film's polarizing ending. Washington and Malek are good leads with interesting backstories. But then there's Leto as Sparma. He's supposed to be creepy, and he looks it, but he's a bit obnoxious. The film drags out the ambiguity of his guilt over 128 minutes. He's too giddy as he drives the investigation into a brick wall. His giddiness proves to be his biggest mistake. The fallout leads to what led to Deke losing his L.A. job. The resolution shows our heroes learning almost nothing.

The Little Things added by the technicals do a lot. The now Oscar shortlisted makeup/hairstyling team visualizes Sparma's creepy visage and helps age Washington and Judith Scott (as his ex-wife, Marsha) pretty good. There's some alluring nighttime photography by John Schwartzman. We also have a creepy score by Thomas Newman, which was also shortlisted by the Oscars. While the overall pace is slow, editor Robert Frazen kept the opening scene nice and tense.

The Little Things is an OK murder mystery. Its leads are good, as are its visuals, but its slow pace and over-ambiguity deflate any tension. The ending wasn't catastrophic but it wasn't perfect, either. It's on HBOMax now, but not for much longer. You have two weeks or so to see it if you want to. At least, if you want to catch up on prospective Oscar candidates.