Film Review: "The Little Things" (2020).

"Some things never let us go" in The Little Things. This neo-noir crime film written and directed by John Lee Hancock. Kern County Deputy Sheriff Joe "Deke" 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 killer who is terrorizing the city. Leading the hunt, L.A. Sheriff Department Sergeant Jim Baxter, impressed with Deke’s cop instincts, unofficially engages his help. But as they track the killer, Baxter is unaware that the investigation is dredging up echoes of Deke’s past, uncovering disturbing secrets that could threaten more than his case.

In 1993, Hancock penned the script for Steven Spielberg to direct, but Spielberg passed because he felt the story was too dark. Clint Eastwood, Warren Beatty, and Danny DeVito were all separately attached to direct before Hancock finally to helm the film himself. In March 2019, Denzel Washington was cast. In May, Rami Malek was cast. In August, Jared Leto was cast. By early September, Chris Bauer, Michael Hyatt, Natalie Morales, Glenn Morshower, Sofia Vassilieva, Jason James Richter and Maya Kazan rounded out the cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in December. Filming took place Lancaster, Los Angeles, Palmdale, Santa Clarita and Ventura, California.

The film stars Washington, Malek, Leto, Bauer, Hyatt, Morales, Morshower, Vassilieva, Richter and Kazan. The two actors misfire here: Washington is so low-key he's almost drowsy, and Malek jumps around like a chihuahua to no effect.

The seriousness is dull, the comic relief non-existent, and the tension low, aided poorly by Thomas Newman's non-stimulating score and a cliched opening title sequence.  Hancock's filmmaking downplayed each scene in such a way that the movie felt exploitative especially when it came to the, supposedly, horrific plotlines. Unfortunately, most of the scenes in the film are unlikely, which means that by the end of the film the duo is battling not just an insane killer but an off-the-wall writer/director. There's none of the humor that takes the sting out of slasher movies, and certainly none of the psychology and depth that made The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Seven (1995) such intellectual thrillers. Were it not for the gravity and thoughtfulness of Washington's performance as a veteran policeman, and the third-act appearance of its bizarre villain, the film would be unendurable. Unfortunately, the movie's clammy design, glum cinematography, and lugubrious pace try to persuade us that what we're watching isn't an ingenious, silly piece of pulp but a serious meditation on the nature of evil. It is very tiresome peering through the gloom trying to catch a glimpse of something interesting, then having to avert one's eyes when it turns out to be just another brutally tormented body. Unfortunately, writer/director Hancock's finale, in addition to its grossness, feels like an act of treachery against the viewer. The trouble with the film is that while the premise is intriguing, the movie is gluey, bumbling and singularly un-thrilling.

Simon says The Little Things receives:

Also, see my review for The Highwaymen.