The Little Things

 

Gillipedia Official Rating: Watching a big movie on a little screen

          We start off on a single-lane, deserted road at night in 1990. We meet a seasoned cop who hasn’t been promoted in years, and his path crosses with the fresh detective who brings some bright ideas. We’ve seen this before. It’s not quite film noir, and its pacing is too slow to consider it a thriller. What The Little Things boils down to is a slow-burning, grim crime drama of two cops trying to pin down a serial killer focused on young women. And despite this well-worn premise, we’re also graced by three Academy award winners in Denzel, Rami Malek, and Jared Leto. So where does this film land? Let’s break it down.

          What better place to start than with the title. Is it fitting? Yes. But it’s also not enticing or memorable. I had been looking forward to this movie coming out for about a month now, and up until a couple days ago, I could never remember what the name was. It was just the one with Denzel coming up. And as far as story goes, the first paragraph is really all you need to know. Because part of what the title of the film does well is fit the narrative. We can immediately grasp the movie and the characters in the first 10 minutes; there’s a serial killer, Denzel is a well-known cop with some sort of past following him, and Rami is the new face of the department. There’s more to these characters than that, but we don’t learn it through lazy exposition like two no-named characters discussing them while sipping coffee or a news reporter catching us up on the latest with the case—nothing like that. Most of the pieces to the jigsaw puzzle will be discovered, but they are introduced in character details and small chunks.

          And really this film is ultimately much more of a trio of character studies than it is about the crime mystery. That’s where having three Oscar winners come in handy. Whether it’s Denzel displaying huge smiles in front of people while hiding his demons only for himself while spending the night in a cheap motel, the inquisitive way Rami tilts his head and makes eye contact with witnesses and suspects alike, or the wide swinging motion Jared Leto takes as he strolls through town; each character comes into their own in large part due to these performances. Jared Leto plays the main suspect, and once he is introduced in the film, he draws lots of attention. I think he probably had the least amount of acting to do considering how strange this guy is in at least the interviews he gives; however, his mannerisms are brilliant. I won’t go into detail about his character, but I was audibly chuckling multiple times; Jared Leto was in control.

          Strange jawline and all, Rami Malek really shows his range from Freddie Mercury to this detective. There’s a suaveness there, but it’s backed up by his true skill in his profession. I wouldn’t say he’s the standout of the group, but he gets his moments and always holds his own.

          Denzel. This man could lead me underwater and still convince me that I can breathe. I could ask him to show me where the milk is, and he could lead me down aisle 12 to the toilet paper and it would be considered a job well done. I could call in tech support for my Wi-Fi, and he could tell me to turn it off and back on and I would slow clap him for days. The point is this might not be the vehicle that lands him next to Jack Nicholson in Chinatown, but there’s no doubt that he elevates this film. The subtlety, the little things if you will, are there, and it works.

          I want to make sure everyone considering watching this film is aware that it’s not a jolly green giant film, and there’s definitely not enough action to call this a thriller. It’s a gritty character study, and if you’re good with that, then I do indeed recommend watching. The score by Thomas Newman is great, and the editing is terrific. “Gasp!” you say. “Gill, there aren’t any long one-take shots. You *love* your one-take shots. And even without those, you still think this film has great editing?” First off, thank you for the question, loyal reader. You’re right. I do have a soft spot for that kind of thing. But it’s not always necessary. There’s a couple of scenes of people either being chased or followed in car. The film perfectly switches between cars, what’s happening around them, and reaction shots from characters’ faces. We are perfectly able to follow what’s going on, and how each character reacts to every new action. I don’t think people will pay much attention to it, and that’s partly the point. Aside from the performances, I can’t give enough praise to the editing. But the directing and music are high points too.

          With their deal with Warner Bros., this blog site pretty much is turning into a review site for HBO Max movies. We have Godzilla vs. Kong and the Snyder Cut both coming up pretty soon to look forward to for instance. But I digress. The Little Things is a patient 2-hour film. It won’t be sweeping any awards shows, but I do fully expect it to receive multiple nominations, and it should. Despite the familiarities of the genre, it is simply well executed. And I am thoroughly satisfied with its hard-hitting ending. It may not have served the marketing department well, but the film lives up to its name.

 

In Brief:

• I considered doing a review for One Night in Miami. Simply didn’t feel I had enough content and different angles to warrant one. While watching the film I thought to myself that it would work better as a play; turns out that’s what it was in its original medium. It’s a good movie, and I’m fan of everything Aldis Hodge does. Well acted, might earn a nomination or two, but I wasn’t blown away.
• I was blown away by The Outpost. An action film released on Netflix had no right being as good as it was. Starring Katy Perry’s husband and Clint Eastwood’s son, it’s a war film about an American base in Afghanistan in a terrible location that gets attacked by the Taliban on a daily basis. The way the film was shot and the authenticity and respect for the real-life soldiers being portrayed really shone through. Yes, it lacks a little dramatic heft, but it fulfills its purpose in spades.
• I was interested in Disney’s new animated film coming out Raya and the Last Dragon. I was excited for a moment seeing its March release date and being put on Disney+. But then I realized that it would be like Mulan, and that disappointed me for a bit. No way am I paying $30 or whatever it will be to stream it. But if it is like Mulan, I will not mind one bit to wait a couple of months to stream it for free on the site.
• I watched Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma. It’s a good movie, and the way it’s filmed is interesting. It takes the perspective of a background I know little about. So for that in itself I can appreciate it. And one of the climactic scenes on the beach is stunning. But like many critical darlings, it’s also just… not always interesting. But yeah, it’s good. Can’t deny that.
• Really liked Outlaw King starring Chris Pine. Wish it had a wide release in theaters because that would’ve been a spectacle. Its opening scene is awesome, and the battles are thrilling and quite gruesome. It also has a pre-Midsommar Florence Pugh, so the film gets credit for that.

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JTG97 Reviews WW84

 

Gillipedia Official Rating: DCEU? More like DC, PU am I right?

I actually had high hopes for this film. I’m a fan of the original, and with director Patty Jenkins back and a strong cast, DC was set for a strong sequel. A vibrant poster and a fun 80s setting only reinforced the high hopes. But then I watched the film. All 2 ½ hours of it, and to say that at best it’s mildly entertaining is being very lenient. There’s a whole host of issues big and small at play here. Didn’t plan on starting 2021 with a bad review, but someone has to do the people’s work.
        Going in I had heard mixed reviews, and the opening sequence started out promising. Young Wonder Woman is starring in the newest season of American Ninja Warrior, and it’s her competing against other Amazonians set to some great music by Hans Zimmer. But my excitement quickly turned to a sinking feeling of worry. It’s not so much that this opening sequence is about 5 minutes too long, but the effects are the glaring error here. The physics of the Amazonians moving and jumping in superhuman ways feels off because there isn’t any weight or stress to their movement—they act like they’re taking a casual step but then leap 20 yards. It all feels kind of rubbery. Not a great start, admittedly, but maybe the movie recovers from this!
        The movie does not recover from this. In fact the next scene jumps to the year 1984, and this might be my least favorite scene of the movie. We start off with a commercial starring The Mandalorian, and as the commercial continues to play in the background, we switch around in an almost montage type of way to show various scenes of many clichés associated with the 80s. It feels like they wanted to mimic the humor that Captain Marvel pulled off with the 90s, but all the clichés feel so forced and are drastically overdone. This scene is the start of one of the strangest complaints I’ve ever had with a movie; the extras are terrible. Wonder Woman dashes by and every single person turns dramatically and wide-eyed to show their shock and disbelief. I’m not sure if an assistant director, Patty Jenkins, or whoever is in charge of making sure background elements blend well together, but the extras in this movie are really distracting and not funny at all.
        We are soon introduced to Kristen Wiig, and as a whole, her performance isn’t bad. The problem here is the whole characterization. Our introduction to her is her tripping over her heels, slightly frizzled hair, and dorky glasses. When she drops her papers, guys shake their heads, smirk, and walk away from the dork from Loserville, AL. But of course later she gets a Catwoman transformation, and as soon as she loses the glasses, hubba bubba, watch out we got a hot mama walking through.
        As a brief aside, one things I was thoroughly confused by was the hammy quality of the whole film (see dork to sexy makeover above). Part of me believes this is all intentional as an homage to cheesy 80s superhero films, but it’s too much of a contrast from the more mature elements they try sneaking in. And worst of all, the light-hearted humor doesn’t land. Back to the review, Gill!
        Thank you, Gill. The premise of this film is Pedro Pascal is a failing businessman who gets his hands on a wishing stone that grants one wish. He wishes to become one with the wishing stone and proceeds to take advantage of people wishing for things they don’t really mean. Before he makes his wish, Gal Gadot wishes for Chris Pine to come back, and Wiig wishes to be more like Diana (Gadot (Wonder Woman)). Instead of simply having him appear out of nowhere like many things will later in the film, Pine comes back in a random guy’s body. It’s problematic from a moral and continuity standpoint, but it didn’t bother me as much as it did other people.
        When I first heard the news that Chris was back for women to pine over again in the sequel, I wasn’t a big fan of the decision considering his emotional farewell from the first film. And I still believe his appearance here takes some emotional weight away from the first film; however, Chris Pine is by and large the best part of this film. Him getting acquainted to the 80s is played for laughs, and they definitely land. His presence is a joy and is the bright spot of this plagued film. Even if bright spots in a plague aren’t the finest metaphor…
        Due to bad writing, Pine’s borrowed body doesn’t have a passport, so they head to the Smithsonian to steal a fully functioning jet to catch The Mandalorian in the Middle East. They have a moment flying by fireworks, and this is one of the very few instances where the film’s visuals reflect the colorful movie poster and it looks great. I don’t know how safe flying by fireworks is, but ah well. The action scene that follows is pretty good too.
        The thing about the middle of the movie is repeated actions. Despite its lengthy runtime, character arcs are still underdeveloped. How does that happen? It’s from being shown the same stuff. Wiig has 2-3 scenes dedicated to showing that she’s noticing superhuman powers. At least one of those scenes needed to be cut. There’s also countless scenes of The Mandalorian going to people and getting them to make wishes that only help power his greed. The idea is building it up to the climax, but the point can be made with much less content. There’s a halfway decent 2-hour film somewhere in here. Unless this move gets a Snyder Cut. Then, of course, the run time would instead rival Gone With the Wind.
        There’s actually an action scene that kicks off the final third that’s pretty good. It takes place in a government building and Wiig emerges in villainous form. Security guards are scattered throughout, and Wonder Woman has to soften their falls as Wiig plows through them. It’s a fun mixup of every character having a distinct role in the action, and it works.
        The climactic fight, however, is quite underwhelming. Think back to the fight from Black Panther between two CGI characters, but remove some of the cool visuals from that fight. The CGI here is even worse, and nothing from the fight is memorable. It’s the part from the trailer where Wonder Woman gets her new, glamorous armor. It looks cool, yes, but besides off-handedly mentioning the armor earlier in the film, there’s no reference to it. I imagine it holds more importance from the comics, but seeing her wear it elicits nothing from me besides a hey, that looks neat.
        There’s some decent messaging in the film, but it’s very heavy handed. Pedro Pascal fully embraces the camp of the film, and it’s fun for moments, but it’s too much overall. And as a common theme, his character doesn’t have much depth. His whole motivation as a villain can be boiled down to even though he obtains a lot, why not have more?
        One action scene started using the awesome electric guitar theme associated with Wonder Woman as she starts going off on bad guys and I was all here for it, but then the music cuts out after like five seconds. Much too short. If there was like a five-minute sequence of Wonder Woman just beating up on guys to the rocking tune, that at least could have been a highlight of this film.
        One last thing I have to mention. There’s some really bad green screen usage here. Think back to the original Superman where the shots are shoulders up from characters and their eyes wander around at nothing in particular because they’re just looking at a green screen. There’s a chance that this again is an intentional choice for the 80s feel, but there’s no excuse for a big budget superhero film in the 21st century to have visuals this bad. It’s a combination of bad visuals mixed with poor directing choices.
        I’m a fan of the original, but there are few redeeming qualities from the sequel. Gal Gadot and Chris Pine return to form, but the directing takes a huge dive, and there’s poor writing and editing. It can be entertaining for moments, but is it worth sitting through 2 ½ hours for just a couple good moments? I believe I’ve actually enjoyed DCEU films more than the average person, but they really need to step up their efforts if they have any hopes of staying in the conversation with Marvel. The Batman, Suicide Squad, and Aquaman 2 all sound promising, but this film puts a dent in my hopes for their cinematic future.

 

In Brief:

• I also watched Soul. It was interesting to see Pixar go so high concept for what’s still supposed to be a kids' movie. And in that regard, I think it might be a little too ambitious for the young’uns. The animation is stellar, Jamie Foxx is obviously good, and I do appreciate its creativity. There’s good messaging here, but I think it stumbles around and is a little confused, and the movie didn’t know how to end properly. Overall, pretty good.
• I got around to the Coen Brother’s Netflix film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. This is a Western anthology- style film, with 6 relatively unrelated stories. Not all of these stories are created equal. The third and fourth drag, and the last one doesn’t end in particularly entertaining fashion. The fifth is easily the highlight here and is engaging all the way through—no matter how much the ending still upsets me.