The Little Things and Other Films - Review

 

Before we get to the movie review that you’ve clicked on to see, I’m gonna give my thoughts on some other stuff, new and old, that I have watched over the past few weeks. Also, there’s really not much to say about The Little Things, and I gotta pad this review out with something, so here we go.

Wonder Woman 1984: Not a very good movie by any stretch of the imagination. The storyline’s all over the map, there are too many divergences or subplots that just plain don’t go anywhere, and the whole deal with Steve Trevor’s “resurrection” really is as weird as you’ve heard. But still, I did end up liking it. Most of that has to do with its positive tone, Gal Gadot is still good as Wonder Woman, it’s interesting to see Kristen Wiig in a villainous role, and hey, it’s always nice to see Pedro Pascal show up. And without giving too much away, I appreciate how the climax didn’t go for the usual “kill the bad guy” resolution that is commonplace in many other superhero movies, instead opting for something more understanding. Plus, the colors are nice and Hans Zimmer’s score is really good, so yeah, I kind of recommend it…with reservations, of course.

Gravity: Well, this has been a long time coming. Alfonso Cuaron’s 2013 space-centric disaster/survival film has been something on my radar for the longest time, and now that I’ve finally seen it…it’s pretty damn good. The cinematography and visual effects are superb, Sandra Bullock and George Clooney give great performances, and Steven Price’s score is on-point. The only problem I can see people having with it is a weird bit in Act III that I won’t give away, but it feels like something that would fit better in a comedy rather than an “Everything that Can go Wrong, will go Wrong” thriller like this. But thankfully it wasn’t enough to ruin the movie for me. Surprising absolutely no one, Gravity is a very good movie.

Now, onto The Little Things…

 

The premise concerns Denzel Washington as a Kern County deputy sheriff named Joe “Deke” Deacon, who teams up with Rami Malek as a young LASD detective to catch a serial killer, the prime suspect being a local weirdo named Albert Sparma, played by Jared Leto.

 

And if you weren’t sold on this film from that premise, then you can pretty much skip The Little Things.  Outside of a few interesting visuals and the fun of watching Denzel Washington and Rami Malek show up to work despite a lackluster script, there’s really not much one can gain from watching this that they couldn’t gain from going onto Netflix and binge-watching Criminal Minds or renting Se7en. The only people I can think of enjoying this film are die-hard fans of the noir genre, but I don’t know how much they’d enjoy it either because of how boring everything is.

 

Again, the only real spark comes from Washington and Malek bringing their A-Game, but we’ve seen Denzel do his usual stuff in other better movies, so again, there’s no need to see this unless you’re a Denzel/noir completist.

 

Oh, and Jared Leto’s in this too….he’s fine.

 

So, The Little Things is a quintessential January movie: not necessarily bad, but nothing special, and you’ll forget about it ten minutes after you see it, if you choose to do so.

 

As a matter of fact, the only noteworthy thing to discuss about this film is Thomas Newman’s wonderful score because, y’know, it’s Thomas Newman. The composer behind The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, American Beauty, Finding Nemo, the list goes on. And his music here is no less awesome than it was in those other movies. My favorite track is “Little Things”, which plays over the closing credits. I love everything about it, from the arpeggiated piano/synth sounds in F minor, the textural sounds, the fast-paced feel. Seriously, it’s amazing.

 

In fact, y’know what? Don’t watch The Little Things. Waste of time. Go on YouTube and listen to Thomas Newman’s music for the film. It’s free, but you’ll get more out of it.