The Little Things

The Little Things - 7/10

The little things obviously took a lot of inspiration from other films; everybody points out that it was inspired by David Fincher's Se7en but I was equally reminded of Nolan's Insomnia as well. That being said, that does not mean that this film doesn't have anything new to offer. Although it does follow some familiar tropes and storylines, it still is original enough to offer something new. Added to that is some fantastic acting from all three leads.

Most of the time when you have multiple great actors all vying for an Oscar nomination in a single movie it leads to some dramatic overacting, in this case all three performances are subtle, subdued, understated yet still brilliant. The mystery in this film is fairly obvious, the trailer shows you everything you need to know. But with that in mind, the mystery wasn't really the focal point of this story in my opinion. The focus rather was on the characters and their development and about who they are as characters. In my mind the characters are written very well, not that they're perfect but they're good.

I think there was some sloppy editing, sloppy writing, and inconsistent directing but nothing worthy of a 54% that they've received from Metacritic. I'm not saying it's the next big classic film or anything like that, no not at all. But I think that this film fully deserves a seven that I've given it. Not a classic, but definitely worth a watch if you enjoy dark films like seven, insomnia, and many more.

There will never be another Se7en and, although this may appear similar, it is very different.

Where as Se7en is all about the crime and the killer this is more concerned with the detectives hunting the killer.

We meet Denzil as a lowly cop sent on an errand to the town where he used to be a respected detective.

It is clear something happened here that put a downward trajectory on his career.

Almost by accident he gets pulled in to the hunt for a vicious serial killer.

The crimes are not particularly clever of interesting or are the suspects.

This is all about the detectives.

This is well made and produced, the leads have a sickly pallor about them that reinforces the desperate state of the investigation.

There is nothing particularly different about this movie and it is quite low on excitement.

But the characters are engaging and I like watching Denzil in the detective roles where he gets to toy with people.

As things ramp up near the end it feels like the writers are in a bit of a corner and the film takes a turn that is unexpected, yet still not very exciting.

This sets up for a thought provoking ending.

This is well made and I did enjoy it - I just wanted it to be more.

Don't expect much action or thrills.

It's a slow burning film, great acting, Jared Leto looked really creepy, Focuses on the drama rather than the flash which I prefer. People always complain about the same old movie formula and when something comes along different they complain about that too! It is a decent film, no cliches, good to see Malek in a big film role and Washington is always great to watch.

Joe Deacon, A Deputy Sherriff in a regional police force, is sent to LA to fetch some evidence for a case. In LA he is reunited with many former colleagues as he was a homicide detective there. He is also drawn into a perplexing serial killer case, the details of which are very familiar.

Reasonably interesting, though had the potential to be brilliant. Started off well, with decent character development and an intriguing plot. Good casting and performances too. Denzel Washington puts in his usual solid performance, Rami Malek is good and Jered Leto does what he does best - act as a weird, off-the-wall character.

However, just when this looks set to be heading for something fantastic, cracks start to appear. The plot is less watertight and plausible and then it suddenly takes a rather tangential direction. This direction could have been a masterstroke if handled correctly but unfortunately it isn't. The ending is quite the damp squib. It is dressed up to appear quite profound but it isn't.

So quite disappointing in the end. If writer-director John Lee Hancock had stuck with the initial plot and made a tension-filled crime drama this could have been great. Instead he tries to take it in another direction and while this is more original, his plot is weak, making for an unsatisfying conclusion.

The movie is interesting but I still think they could have done better scenes and improved the story line with a better ending.. However, as long Denzel is the leading actor you will never regret watching the movie