Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.5

The Little Things Blu-ray Movie Review

6ix out of ten.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III May 2, 2021

Written and directed by John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side), The Little Things tries desperately to carve a name out for itself in the crowded crime thriller genre. Set in Los Angeles circa 1990, our story follows detectives Joe "Deke" Deacon (Denzel Washington) and Jim Baxter (Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody) as they investigate a series of murders that may or may not point to a reckless recluse named Albert Sparma (Jared Leto). It's all-too-familiar plot elements should instantly remind viewers of earlier serial killer films like David Fincher's landmark Se7en and its many imitators... and while I wouldn't consider The Little Things a full-blown copycat, there's a strong and pervading sense of "been there, done that" floating over the film, hampering what might otherwise be a perfectly passable picture.

The good news is that, during most of The Little Things' 128-minute lifespan, it serves up a potent amount of intrigue that makes first-time viewers want to see this story through. Its plot gradually unravels, never becoming much more complicated than what that above synopsis suggests, while sporting a heavy atmosphere and strong lead performances that carry most of the load. Denzel Washington takes what could have been a throwaway role -- a world-weary cop whose unwavering commitment to the job led to a divorce, a heart attack, and a job transfer -- and turns Joe Deacon into a fairly memorable character, one whose past actions have rendered him almost unable to function properly. Rami Malek's Jim Baxter is, by and large, a younger version of the same man (and fittingly, Deacon's replacement at his former department), with a wife and children who have yet to endure the side effects of his police career. Jared Leto's enigmatic Albert Sparma falls somewhere between Se7en's John Doe and Zodiac's Arthur Leigh Allen; a rogue who makes no attempt to hide his creepiness while never admitting guilt to the crimes he's suspected of.

Where The Little Things runs into trouble -- aside from its liberal swipes from other established psychological thriller classics -- is the ending, which I kind of admired at first... but only because I didn't see it coming. Without venturing too far into spoiler territory, it's a sudden twist and gradual series of events that leaves us with almost no one to root for; sure, Se7en was bleak too, but it at least had a somber but uplifting coda by Morgan Freeman's William Somerset. It's doubly disturbing in the current climate of police accountability, as 2021 is no time to feature rule-breaking cops. Aside from that glaring left turn, the only other problem here is editing: I can't remember the last time a poorly-cut scene took me out of a film (just kidding... of course I can), but it happened at least two or three times during The Little Things, even once during a normal conversation. Look, if we're talking pure percentage points, I enjoyed -- or was at least intrigued by -- maybe 80% of this film but, depending on your tolerance for its twist, that potentially bitter aftertaste might drop the replay value into dangerously low territory. Either way, I still have to The Little Things lower than most of its kind: good performances or not, most of this production is just too familiar for its own good.

Much like another Warner Bros. title this week, Judas and the Black Messiah, The Little Things was available on HBO Max in 4K with Dolby Atmos audio; similarly, both were released to Blu-ray only with scaled-back DTS-HD 5.1 mixes. It's a disappointing downward trend for the usually dependable studio and, combined with a lack of substantial extras, doesn't make The Little Things a standout disc from just about any perspective aside from the visuals.

The Little Things Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Despite my grumblings about that lack of a 4K option, The Little Things dodges that obstacle surprisingly well on this respectable-looking 1080p transfer from Warner Bros. Not to anyone's surprise, this is a pervasively dark film but the Blu-ray handles even its blackest moments nicely with excellent shadow detail and almost zero crush. The same applies to its largely muted color palette, which often stands out nicely against all that darkness but without the distracting artificial pop of contrast boosting; this results in a more smoothly refined appearance than one that's artificially pumped up. Its digital pedigree naturally makes the transition to disc smoothly and, though it's obviously downsampled quite a bit due to format limitations, there don't seem to be any egregious signs of compression artifacts or even banding -- hardly surprising, as the film gets more than enough room to breathe on a mostly featureless dual-layered disc. Image detail, textures, and density are all more than up to par, creating a visually appealing effort that, while peppered with gruesome crime scenes and more than a few creep-out moments, is actually quite beautiful at times.

The Little Things Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Although I'm more or less OK with the scaled-back DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track we get here, the absence of that aforementioned Dolby Atmos mix stings a little more than usual -- The Little Things unsurprisingly goes for a heavier atmosphere than most films, with ample opportunities for height channel effects or, at the very least, more refined use of the rears through something closer to a 7.1 mix (which all Atmos mixes automatically fold down to if your receiver doesn't support the format). But what we do get here is a mostly effective and immersive effort that, when funneled through most home setups, will get the job done perfectly well. Dialogue is crystal clear either way, Thomas Newman's original score enjoys a strong but not overpowering presence, channel pans and other effects are smooth, and the rears and LFE get some time to shine during the film's most viscerally intense moments. It's a very good track that, all things considered, covers the basics nicely... but the frustrating lack of Atmos just rubs me the wrong way.

Optional subtitles are available in a variety of languages, including English (SDH), during the film and extras.

The Little Things Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with awful (and kind of spoiler-y) cover artwork that makes it look destined for Walmart's $5.88 bin; why they didn't opt for the more stylish one-sheet poster design, which doubles as the menu background as seen on screenshot #21, is beyond me. Also like Judas and the Black Messiah, the on-disc extras pale in comparison to what's available on HBO Max -- two measly short-form featurettes is all we get.

• Four Shade of Blue (9:22) - This short retrospective piece traces the similarities and differences between four Warner Bros. films in which Denzel Washington played a police officer: Ricochet, Fallen, Training Day, and The Little Things, with comments by film critics Wade Major, Tim Cogshell, and a third unidentified woman.

• A Contrast In Styles (7:54) - A much more film-specific behind-the-scenes featurette that includes separate comments from writer/director John Lee Hancock, producer Mark Johnson, and actors Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, and Jared Leto, who each discuss their characters and what it was like working together.

The Little Things Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

John Lee Hancock's The Little Things can't help but be compared to landmark thrillers like David Fincher's Se7en, which doesn't seem fair when you consider an early draft was written in the early 1990s. (To really date it, the late Brandon Lee even expressed interest at one point.) Sadly, time marches on: the cinematic landscape has evolved and, though it's fitfully effective and features a solid cast, the story feels all too familiar and the ending is... well, the jury's still deliberating. There's still some enjoyment here... at least enough to make The Little Things worth a watch for genre fans, but it's a tough blind buy recommendation beyond the film's shortcomings: Warner Bros. has not granted it a separate 4K option, the streaming version's Dolby Atmos mix is missing, and its extras aren't especially deep.