Is anyone else getting the same vibes that were put off by another Denzel Washington movie, The Bone Collector? Granted, Denzel was bed-bound for a lot of that movie since his character had limited use of a couple of parts of his body after a horrendous accident on the job, but the meticulous nature of the movie is still felt in The Little Things. A Kern County sheriff and a Los Angeles detective that clash over a case apparently have to come to grips with the idea that they’re both trying to nail the suspect, who is being played by Jared Leto, but are coming at it from very different angles. The detective, played by Rami Malek, is a family man obviously, while Washington’s character appears to be a bachelor, or perhaps a widower, or something along those lines since he doesn’t appear to have anyone in his life. Maybe there’s more to that, but at the moment the trailer reveals that he’s likely alone and is a bit obsessed when it comes to this case since he’s fully ready to pounce on the suspect and trail him where goes in order to make him feel that he’s being watched. It’s a case of obsession and frustration combined it would appear since the feeling of this movie so far is that it’s going to be very detail-oriented and will need to be followed closely.
With that being said though, this is one of the types of movies that Denzel does excel at since he appears to have cultivated a very meticulous nature when he approaches his characters. Everything, from the way he holds himself, down to the looks he gives and the manner in which he approaches each scene, appears to be well planned and takes into account what everyone else is going to do and how he’ll have to react. That’s tiring just saying it, now imagine someone doing this every time they’re in front of a camera. But Denzel has been one of the best actors around for decades simply because of this because he can bring himself to be so convincing in what he does and puts so much of himself into each role. This can be said of a lot of actors, but there are definite degrees to which each actor goes since each one of them is unique enough that they have their own style and it’s easy to recognize if one just looks.
Jared Leto and Rami Male are about the same in this regard, as they both approach their roles in a different manner but are just as effective. With Malek, there’s that feeling that he’s going to go over the top and make it known with his facial features a lot of times, while with Leto, it’s about how strange he can get when taking on a role. That was made evident when he played the part of Joker in Suicide Squad, while Malek got to show how flamboyant he could be in Bohemian Rhapsody. That’s the thing about any movie, the fact that when one uses more than one skilled and talented actor that there will be a veritable storm of talent on display. The trick is that each talent has to adjust just enough so that the overall effect is that whether it’s a perfect storm or a perfect harmony, it works as it should for the story that’s being told. It almost feels as though the three men in this movie will clash in some way with their different styles, but that it will be something to be awed instead of repelled by since all three of them are great, but all three of them are so different that it’s not bound to be a smooth transition between them, but something that is going to require the audience to climb one hill after another in anticipation of what’s coming next. It might confuse a few people, but the gist of it is that the three of them can obviously work together, but their styles are so different that while they can make a movie, there’s still a clear delineation between them as characters and as a result, trying to simply flow from one character to another might be more difficult for some viewers.
To be certain, the movie looks like it’s worth watching since watching Denzel try to figure out a crime in this manner is usually great material for a story since he has the skill and the undeniable talent to make it happen. Jared Leto is a favorite of some but not everyone, while Rami Malek still feels as though he’s making his legend as he continues to shine on screen. Together, the three men appear to make a great movie, but we’ll have to wait to find out.
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