The Little Things

This movie does make an observation: cops are, themselves, a bit of a mystery. I said it was a observation--not necessarily a good observation...nor does that make for a good movie. Indeed, this whole exercise, rather than good, is mostly a run of the mill murder mystery, the kind that has been done many times before, and done better before--even in the eyes of those of us who are not particularly entertained by the thought of people being brutally murdered. The putative selling point here comes in the form of a lineu of heavy hitters among the principal cast, but only Jared Leto really does anything special with his role--and even his creepiness is contrived in the service of the needs of the story, rather than showing a true organic character. Rami Malek is just a waver between brooding and tense throughout the proceedings, while Denzel Washington mostly just plays it tired. There's little that's profound in the story's ultimate twist, no matter how much this flick wants you to believe there is. Ultimately, "little thing" is a descriptor that is all too accurate.