Written by: Robert Timmler

Allie Gemmill/ Collider

The Little Things is a new psychological crime thriller that’s being released into theaters and onto HBO Max the same day; January 29th. The Little Things is about Joe Deacon (Denzel Washington), a local sheriff who’s sent to retrieve evidence from the main office in Los Angeles. While at the main office, Joe is asked to ride along to a crime scene by rookie detective Jim Baxter (Rami Malek). While Joe studies the crime scene, he notices that the victim was killed in a similar fashion to a past case that resulted in Joe transferring out to Kern County. As the investigation goes on, Joe and Jim work together to find the killer before more helpless victims are killed.

The Little Things is a bland crime story that is improved upon by its talented Academy Award winning cast. The story is unoriginal and has been done before in crime novels, TV shows, and other movies. The acting is what really makes the film watchable. Denzel Washington is excellent as Joe, a character who suffers from the guilt of not solving his last murder case before transferring out, which haunts him every day of his life. 

Rami Malek is decent as Jim, a family man whose sole purpose is to solve the case and catch the bad guys. Jared Leto gives a chilling performance as Albert Sparma, an odd individual and crime fanatic who ends up being the lead suspect of the murder investigation. Each of these performances build off each other to make the film fairly interesting to watch.

The weakness of the film is the story lacks tension, originality, and drive. The cast turns in supreme performances that make the film, to some extent, entertaining. But in the end, they seem wasted on a story that lacks intrigue. It’s hard to be classified as a psychological crime thriller when the film lacks thrill. 

The Little Things gets 

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