3 Short Paragraphs: The Little Things

2021, John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) -- download

The Little Things is a neo-noir crime flick set in the early 90s. There is a genre of crime movie that relies on harkening back to previous eras of crime movies, wherein the creators are seeking stylistic choices, colour patterns, fashion, technology references, etc. -- the things that made movies of that era stand out as being in that era. Its often a nod to the creator's formative exposures. And these choices, somewhat steeped in nostalgia often allow a certain forgiveness of ... familiarity or formula? This is what I assumed this movie was, until I learned that the script was  written by Hancock himself in 1993. The project never got up and running, but I guess in the voids created by The Pause, he got his wish.

The movie is about two detectives, Deke (Denzel Washington, Deja Vu) and Baxter (Rami Malek, Mr. Robot); Deke retired to the outskirts of LA as a deputy sheriff, while Baxter is lead detective in the thick of things. Deke is sent to the city to pick up evidence and ends up embroiled in a serial killing that reminds him of the one that ended his career, after having become obsessed, and a bit of a pariah in his station. He becomes obsessed again, and Baxter, going against all the advice of his coworkers, assists Deke out. Creepy, lowlife Sparma (Jared Leto, Morbiius) is the focus of their investigations.

I am attracted to these low-key crime movies, in much the same way I watch the less than stellar FBI series of TV shows. They are a mood and a tone that I can easily slip into, but not expect too much from. Others writing about this movie compared this movie to Seven but I think that was lazy writing, going for the easy bit, as while both are trying to depict how the police can become disassembled investigating these horrible crimes, the former was all style, all crime high fashion, while this is just a worn suit, and battered uncomfortable shoes. If this movie didn't have the performances of Washington and Malek to hold it together, it would have just slipped off my radar and my attention span, but to be honest, not even they could raise it above barely middling. There were some threads of plot, the nods to family & god being a lifeline, that were intriguing enough that keep it in my mind, but... barely.