ReelBob: ‘The Little Things’ ★★

By Bob Bloom

For a thriller that emphasizes the importance of the smallest details, “The Little Things” is sloppy in many other aspects.

Writer-director John Hancock’s movie stars three Academy Award-winners — Denzel Washington, Rami Malek and Jared Leto — yet it lacks the spark and verve that this strong trio pf performers should ignite.

The movie also feels familiar as if it is channeling such other serial-killer movies as “Se7en” or “Zodiac,” but without the intensity of its predecessors. That may be because the film is set in 1990 and feels old-fashioned — clunky computers, no cellphones, no Internet.

The characters themselves seem recycled: Washington’s Deputy Sheriff Joe “Deke” Deacon, who five years earlier left the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and took a job at a department in a small, nearby county, is a tortured soul with a dark secret, Malek’s L.A. county Detective Sgt. Jim Baxter is a methodical, up-and-coming homicide investigator, and Leto’s Albert Sparma is your stereotypical creepy murder suspect who plays a cat-and-mouse game with the officers.

At 127 minutes, “The Little Things” plods along as Deacon, who was sent on an errand to retrieve evidence from his former colleagues for a case in his jurisdiction, is slowly drawn into a series of area homicides that Baxter is scrutinizing because of their similarity to one he investigated years earlier.

The film follows the well-worn path of Deacon and Baxter having an adversarial relationship before recognizing each other’s assets and working together.

Implausibility is a major drawback: Deacon, without authorization, begins conducting his own investigation, which Baxter gradually accepts because “Deke” successfully unearths clues that move the hunt for the killer forward.

The movie relies on atmosphere and the interplay between Washington and Malek to propel it. The actors strive mightily to bolster “The Little Things” — sometimes their efforts score, other times not — as they revert to gestures and body language they’ve utilized in earlier performances.

The film lacks an urgency; it’s as if, at times, it was screening in slow motion.

Leto’s Sparma keeps you in suspense about his guilt or innocence to the end. He is a self-described crime fanatic who has a police scanner in his small apartment. He also enjoys taunting Deacon and Baxter, dropping just enough hints to whet their appetites.

It’s evident that Hancock could not sustain his premise to its finale. The fade-out is a bit of a soft soap that leaves you wondering.

Ambiguity has its place in movies, but here it seems like a cop-out, as if Hancock could not devise a satisfactory conclusion.

It’s hard to watch the movie’s trio of actors work so diligently to make “The Little Things” special. Sadly, it’s just run-of-the-mill and fails to meet its potential.

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob.com or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.

THE LITTLE THINGS
2 stars out of 4
(R), language, graphic violence, adult themes