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Around Detroit What's Happening Where To Go Top Acts Movies log into calendar / register One day Week Month Now Playing Coming Soon The Little Things The Marksman News of the World Promising Young Woman Wonder Woman 1984 Wonder Woman 1984 3D Fatale Monster Hunter All My Life Half Brothers The Croods: A New Age Freaky Let Him Go The War with Grandpa Trolls World Tour Harriet Abominable John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum Shazam! How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World prev next Judas and the Black Messiah Crisis Tom & Jerry Boogie Chaos Walking Raya and the Last Dragon Raya and the Last Dragon 3D Raya and the Last Dragon: An IMAX 3D Experience The Courier Godzilla vs Kong Godzilla vs Kong 3D Godzilla vs Kong: The IMAX Experience Nobody prev next Reviews The Little Things The biggest thing The Little Things has going for it is that it's not a run-of-the-mill mystery/thriller. The most significant potential problem, especially with respect to mainstream acceptance, is the ambiguity of the resolution. Some viewers are going to hate how the film ends. While the lack of closure isn't close to what it was in John Sayles' Limbo (which caused movie-goers to throw things at the screen in normally staid art houses), it will cause consternation. However, although The Little Things may start out seeming like a zillion other police procedurals with mismatched partners hunting a serial killer, it applies a narrative innovation to invalidate the motion picture "conservation of characters" limitation. The movie works when viewed through the narrow lens of one character's personal redemption rather than through a wider portal. The Little Things finds a reason to bring Joe Deacon (Denzel Washington) back from his rural exile to the wild streets of Los Angeles, where he once investigated homicides. Joe has been patrolling the small town byways where murders don't happen often (if at all) -- a direct reaction to a dark past event we don't know about at the beginning but are destined to uncover as the narrative unspools. Joe's task requires him to return to his old stomping grounds to pick up evidence. His "resurrection" is met with a mixture of goodwill and mistrust, depending on who is doing the meeting. His "replacement," the media savvy, college-educated go-getter Jim Baxter (Rami Malek), isn't initially impressed but that doesn't prevent him from inviting Joe to tag along. Thus begins an unconventional partnership that results in an investigation of murder suspect Albert Sparma (Jared Leto). While Hancock's story mostly stays in familiar territory insofar as the investigation is concerned, his endgame is considerably different. Although the movie starts out as a whodunnit, it quickly becomes evident that the net has caught a single suspect -- Sparma. The movie then becomes a contest of wills between Deacon/Baxter and the self-admitted police junkie. Hancock's third act curveball is what sets The Little Things apart from many similar films. Along the way, the filmmaker generates his share of suspense. The illegal apartment search is rife with tension, abetted by the director's edits, and the drive-along, although straining credulity to the breaking point, is guaranteed to elevate the pulse. The acting goes a long way toward helping the movie overcome some implausible narrative issues. (For example, what major city police department is going to allow a semi-disgraced former detective to become involved in a high-profile serial killer investigation?) It doesn't hurt to have three former Oscar winners in the cast, all of whom are in top form. Denzel Washington's approach to Deacon is low-key but the pain is never far from the surface (and, thanks to the occasional flashback, it occasionally bubbles over). Rami Malek gets to show how a good man can get pulled to the edge. And Jared Leto apparently enjoyed playing The Joker so much that he has essentially recreated the persona here (sans makeup.) Take that, Joaquin Phoenix! I'll freely admit there's something dissatisfying about the ending even though I recognize its strengths from an artistic standpoint. It takes guts for a filmmaker to break from conventions and Hancock, whose previous efforts include The Rookie and The Blind Side, isn't afraid to do so. He sees the serial killing investigation as more of a background element. His interest is less in identifying the perpetrator than exploring the psychological impact on Deacon, who has been down this road before, and Baxter, who hasn't. As a character study, The Little Things works. As a thriller, it's a mixed bag and individual preferences will determine whether to classify the resolution as exhilarating or annoying. (The movie is part of Warner Brothers' 2021 slate and, as such, will be streaming for 31 days on HBOMax simultaneously with its theatrical release.) © 2021 James Berardinelli More... News of the World News of the World, based on the 2016 novel by Paulette Jiles, is a road trip Western where the genre serves less as the focus than as a backdrop to the relationship between the paternalistic Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks) and the 10-year old wild girl Johanna (Helena Zengel). The bond between these two, which begins out of obligation and develops into a deeper, caring father/daughter association, represents the heart of the story. The star power of Tom Hanks, an actor whose inherent nobility creates an instant attachment to the main character, provides an important shorthand by defusing the possibility that Captain Kidd might have ulterior motives where Johanna is concerned. The movie transpires in 1870 Texas and director Paul Greengrass, who is known for his attention to detail, achieves a credible approximation of the Old West. Kidd travels from town to town, reading stories from national newspapers, informing the locals about what's going on in the nation at large. On one of his trips, he encounters Johanna. Six years earlier, at age 4, she was kidnapped by the Kiowa in a raid that resulted in the deaths of her parents. Now, the task falls to Kidd (in large part because no one else wants the responsibility) to transport her to her biological aunt and uncle. Unable to speak English, Johanna isn't the most amiable of traveling companions. She perceives her current predicament as a kidnapping since the only life she remembers is her time with the Kiowa. During the course of their journey, Kidd and Johanna establish a truce of sorts. They develop a rudimentary form of communication (he learns a few words of her language while he teaches her English). When a trio of outlaws in Dallas attempt to take Johanna by force, she helps Kidd in the ensuing flight and gunfight. The film's action-flavored Western elements are handled adeptly but the movie's strongest suit is the relationship between the veteran and his young traveling companion. Had the movie been made fifty years ago, no doubt James Stewart would have played Kidd. To the extent that Hanks brings "baggage" with him, it helps solidify his personality. Hanks' chemistry with Helena Zengel is easy and unforced. Captain Kidd is a clichéd character -- the gruff ex-military officer whose hardened heart is melted by the plight of a child -- but the performances of Hanks and Zengel as well as the Western milieu enable the movie to work despite its overall familiarity. News of the World isn't overstuffed with action but several scenes evoke suspense and one sequence in particular -- when an outnumbered Captain Kidd and Johanna take the high ground in a desperate attempt to outsmart (or shoot) their pursuers. On another occasion, Kidd's inherent nobility gets him in hot water when he refuses to endorse the tactics of a settlement's despotic ruler. Rather than using these moments as episodic distractions, Greengrass allows each to advance the developing father-daughter bond. News of the World is the second film this year (the other being Greyhound) in which Hanks' reliable presence enhances the produc...