Home Lifestyle AT THE MOVIES: Performances save ‘The Little Things’ from being borefest

AT THE MOVIES: Performances save ‘The Little Things’ from being borefest

As 2021 pushes into February, the first film in HBO Max’s series of titles releasing in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously has hit.

“The Little Things,” a psychological thriller along the lines of “Se7en” or “Prisoners” follows John Deacon (Denzel Washington) as he helps homicide detective Jim Baxter (Rami Malek) try to track down a serial killer, with the presumed main suspect Albert Sparma (Jared Leto) in their sites. 

What begins as a procedural detective thriller slowly morphs into an attempted unique take on the formulaic ending to films like these, in a somewhat misguided fashion. Thankfully, until this happens you’re treated to three absolutely perfect performances by Washington, Malek and Leto. This could have very easily been a borefest without the excellent conjunction of action and dialogue, with a particularly good turn for Jared.

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The unfortunate thing is that the rest of the film’s components are a bit muddled, with a mix of sub-plots going on at the same time that ultimately experience no real payoff (or any explanation for being present in the film). The main story is compelling enough to be the main focus but unnecessary filler takes up too much space. 

If anything, what made me the most hopeful about this movie as a whole is that throughout the rest of the year there will be high-quality, theatrical-level films released day-in-day on a streaming service that allows people quality entertainment in the safest way possible. 

Jordan Lester is a movie reviewer and concert photographer. He lives in Dunn.

 



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