All The Little Things Killer Tracks

[Jerica Shilt]

The Little Things is a 2021 American neo-noir psychological crime thriller film directed, written, and co-produced by John Lee Hancock[4][5] and co-produced by Mark Johnson. Set in early 1990s Los Angeles, the film follows two detectives (Denzel Washington and Rami Malek) who investigate a string of murders, which lead them to a strange loner who may be the culprit (Jared Leto).

The film initially began development in 1993, when Hancock wrote the original draft of the screenplay, with various names attached to direct or act, but it languished in development hell. The project was revitalized in 2019, with announcements that Hancock would direct, with Malek, Leto and Washington to portray the main characters. Principal photography began in Los Angeles on September 2, 2019, and wrapped in December 2019.

The Little Things was released in the United States on January 29, 2021, by Warner Bros. Pictures, both theatrically and, for one month, simultaneously on the HBO Max streaming service. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for the cast but criticism of the screenplay, and grossed $30 million worldwide against its $30 million production budget. For his performance, Leto received Best Supporting Actor nominations at the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards.

One night in 1990, a teenaged girl drives on a deserted highway, stalked by a motorist. After pulling into a gas station, she finds it closed. A terrifying pursuit on foot begins. She manages to catch the attention of a passing truck driver and escapes her stalker.

Some time later in Bakersfield, Kern County Sheriff's Office Deputy Sheriff Joe "Deke" Deacon is sent to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to collect evidence pertaining to a recent murder. A former LASD detective, he accompanies recently appointed lead detective Jimmy Baxter to the scene of a new murder in L.A. Deacon notices similarities between the M.O. of the killing and the M.O. of an old serial murder case he was unable to solve.

That night, a woman named Ronda Rathbun is followed by a car while jogging and is reported missing the following morning. Baxter learns from Captain Farris that Deacon had gotten divorced and suffered a heart attack due to his obsession with the unsolved case. So, he is advised not to involve him any further, but Deacon takes vacation leave from his station to assist in solving Baxter's case.

The next night, the police discover the body of another victim washed up beneath a bridge. Baxter learns the M.O. is consistent with the earlier murder and others: the victims were all prostitutes who were stabbed to death. Deacon begins investigating Albert Sparma, a suspect working at a repair store in proximity to the murders. He tails him but is thwarted, so he takes him in for questioning. While under interrogation, Sparma taunts the detectives and is released after provoking Deacon into an angry outburst. The young woman pursued in the desert is interviewed but has seen Sparma in handcuffs at the police station, which compromises her eligibility as an objective witness to identify him as a suspect.

The FBI will take charge of the investigation within the week, giving Deacon and Baxter less time to resolve it. Farris informs Baxter that eight years prior, Sparma confessed to a murder which he couldn't possibly have committed and is thus an unlikely suspect. Baxter and Deacon nonetheless continue investigating. Sparma's fingerprint is similar to the killer's but not a definitive match. Their next move is an illegal search at Sparma's apartment. With Baxter standing guard outside, Deacon unsuccessfully searches the apartment for incriminating evidence, only finding newspaper clippings related to the cases. Suddenly Sparma's police scanner goes off and Deacon hears an "officer down" alert for this very address. As police converge on the building, Deacon narrowly escapes over the roof, with Sparma watching his ordeal and casually waving his hand at Baxter.

While surveilling Sparma, Baxter corners the suspect alone and demands to know Rathbun's location. Sparma offers to drive him to where he supposedly hid Rathbun's body. Baxter cautiously agrees while Deacon secretly follows. Sparma takes Baxter to a remote area in the desert and has him dig several holes before telling him that he never killed anyone. Skeptical, he continues digging. Sparma begins to taunt him until Baxter snaps and strikes him in the face with the shovel, killing him.

As Deacon arrives, a flashback reveals that he accidentally shot the one survivor of his last murder case and that Farris and Dunigan, the coroner, helped cover it up. Deacon instructs Baxter to bury Sparma in the desert, while he spends the night collecting everything in Sparma's apartment and disposing of his vehicle. Then he returns to the desert the following morning to find that Baxter has not buried Sparma but is instead still searching for the victim, desperate to believe he is the killer. Deacon (whose waking dreams are haunted by the earlier victims) advises Baxter to forget about the case or it will haunt him for life.

Later, at his home, Baxter receives an envelope sent by Deacon, containing a red barrette like the one Ronda Rathbun was wearing when she was abducted. Back in Kern County, Deacon burns everything he collected in the apartment, along with a brand new pack of barrettes that is similar to the missing red one. Then, he walks away.

The first draft was written by Hancock in 1993 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 before Hancock decided to direct it himself.[6] Hancock said actor Brandon Lee, who died that year, wanted a role in the film after reading the script. Lee can be seen on the TV series Ohara playing in Sparma's apartment.[7]

In March 2019, Denzel Washington signed on to star in the film.[8] In May, Rami Malek joined the cast.[9] In August, Jared Leto entered into talks for the role of the suspected serial killer, Albert Sparma.[10] Natalie Morales, Joris Jarsky, Sheila Houlahan and Sofia Vassilieva were cast in September,[11][12] with Michael Hyatt, Kerry O'Malley, Jason James Richter, Isabel Arraiza and John Harlan Kim joining the cast of the film in October.[13][14][15] In November, Chris Bauer was also added.[citation needed]

The film was theatrically released in the United States on January 29, 2021, by Warner Bros. Pictures. It also had a simultaneous release on the HBO Max streaming service for 31 days, as part of Warner Bros.' plan for all of its 2021 films.[19][20] It was the most-watched item on the platform in its debut weekend, with Samba TV reporting that 1.4 million households streamed the film over its opening weekend.[21][22] By the end of its first month, the film had been watched in over 3 million U.S. households.[23]

The film was released on Premium VOD on March 19, 2021.[24] It was released by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on digital on April 20, 2021. The film received a Blu-ray and DVD release on May 4, 2021, in the United States.[24] The film was re-added to HBO Max on June 17, 2021.[25]

The film was released on the same day as the limited release of Nomadland and was projected to gross around $2.5 million in its opening weekend.[26] It ended up debuting to $4.8 million from 2,171 theaters, topping the box office; 55% of the audience was male, while 80% were over the age of 25.[27] Internationally, the film grossed $2.8 million from 18 markets for a worldwide start of $7.6 million.[22] The film remained atop the box office both domestically and abroad in its second weekend, with $2.1 million and $1.4 million, respectively.[28][29] The film made $2.4 million over its third weekend, the four-day President's Day slate, and was dethroned by holdover The Croods: A New Age, then made $1.2 million in its fourth weekend.[30][31]

Writing for The Globe and Mail, Barry Hertz gave the film two and a half out of four stars, explaining, "Hancock keeps the action moving briskly and with little tonal confusion, highlighting just what a polished studio-favoured professional can do when given gobs of money and zero intellectual-property obligations. And his trio of leading men are all given ample space to play to their strengths."[36]

But once in a while a good crime movie will come along that I really enjoy, like "The Highwaymen" a couple of years ago. Sometimes I'll come across a crime film trailer and think, "Yeah, OK. That looks solid."

That was the case for "The Little Things," directed by John Lee Hancock, who (are you kidding me?) actually directed "The Highwaymen." (I just Googled his name and found that under his credits. Talk about coincidence.)

Funny story about "The Highwaymen." Right after I wrote the review, the script writer, John Fusco, sent me an email thanking me for the "great review." Thankfully, Fusco didn't write this movie, so I don't have to feel awkward when I type some negative things about it a few paragraphs down.

Hopefully, Warner Bros won't see this review (which will admittedly be 75% negative), and decide to throw my future advance screener requests in the trash. But if my request for "Godzilla vs. Kong" gets scrapped, I'll know why.

"The Little Things" is not a terrible movie, but it is a "January movie." And by that I mean, typically studios save good movies they think will make a lot of money for summer blockbuster season or Christmas. Other movies? The stinkers, the unexpected midrange stuff, they tend to end up in January.

"Replicas," that horrible science-fiction cloning film with Keanu Reeves, was released in January. First movie opening weekend of 2020? An awful reboot of "The Grudge," which was itself already a remake of a superior (and much more terrifying) Japanese horror film called "Ju-On: The Grudge."

In recent memory, the only good movie I recall seeing in January was the American release of "Weathering With You," which was amazing. But seeing as that's an imported movie, I think it gets its own special category.

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