Where has Denzel Washington been lately? He hasn’t actually been on the big screen since The Equalizer 2, which was two years ago but feels like ten. While he did produce Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom for his friends Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman, Washington is only now getting back to the acting business with The Little Things, which is one of those films that will be coming to theaters and HBO Max next year.
The big hook of The Little Things has always been its lead trio of Oscar winners: Washington, Rami Malek, and Jared Leto. Otherwise this looks like standard crime procedural stuff. Washington plays a Deke County sheriff who clashes with an LAPD detective while investigating a series of murders.
But a look a little bit closer suggests there’s more going on here. Washington’s character, Joe “Deke” Deacon, seems to be awfully aware of the “little things” that killers do, placing him as a potential suspect. He’s certainly harboring some dark secrets in his past that make him persona non grata with the Department. Meanwhile, Leto’s character seems like the perfect red herring. I mean, it’s Jared Leto. He’s always the guy we expect to be guilty.
John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) wrote and directed, while the supporting cast includes Natalie Morales, Terry Kinney, and Michael Hyatt.
The Little Things hits theaters and HBO Max on January 29th 2021.
Kern County Deputy Sheriff Joe “Deke” Deacon (Denzel Washington) is sent to Los Angeles for what should have been a quick evidence-gathering assignment. Instead, he becomes embroiled in the search for a killer who is terrorizing the city. Leading the hunt, L.A. Sheriff Department Sergeant Jim Baxter (Rami Malek), impressed with Deke’s cop instincts, unofficially engages his help. But as they track the killer, Baxter is unaware that the investigation is dredging up echoes of Deke’s past, uncovering disturbing secrets that could threaten more than his case.
