Mind games make this
CRIME THRILLER: TWISTS AND TURNS THAT END IN A SURPRISE
Officers and a clever killer pitted against each other in labyrinthine contest.
The Little Things is a slow-burning psychological crime thriller. It employs mind games rather than pursuing the adrenalin-rushing action sequences so popular in movies today.
This moody, slow-paced production is written and directed by the celebrated John Lee Hancock, who contributed such illustrious titles to the cinema firmament as The Blind Side, which garnered an Oscar for Sandra Bullock, Saving Mr Banks and The Founder.
This time around he has enlisted the talents of veteran Denzel Washington and Oscar winner Rami Malek, playing cops from different backgrounds who pool their knowledge and experience to solve a series of murders of young women.
This movie does not follow an obvious path, but cunningly draws you into a psychological game between law enforcement and a clever, sadistic killer.
It twists and turns and the ending will come as a surprise.
The always reliable Washington plays taciturn Deputy Sheriff Joe “Deke” Deacon.
He is sent from a small nowhere town to Los Angeles for what should have been a quick evidence-gathering assignment.
Instead, he finds himself helping LA Sheriff Department Sergeant Jim Baxter (Malik) track a serial killer.
What Baxter does not know, is that Deke has a murky background from his days as an LA cop, and memories of Deke’s past begin to intrude on the current investigation.
Dark, disturbing secrets emerge that could threaten more than just this case.
A greasy looking, long-haired Jared Leto plays a person of interest and as the narrative unravels the three key players dominate a script that explores the criminal mind and a cop’s obsession, which is known as detective myopia.
The characters depicted here are complex individuals, trying to do the right thing but going about it in the wrong way.
The performances are accomplished and the premise will get you thinking about justice long after the images have dimmed from the screen.