The Little Things stars not one, not two, but three Oscar winners: Denzel Washington (Training Day), Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody), and Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club). The crime-thriller is also the second Warner Bros. movie, after Wonder Woman 1984, to be released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max (for 31 days) as part of the studio’s new industry-quaking strategy. I normally wouldn’t suggest inviting Leto into your home (who knows where he’ll hide those rats?), but I’ll make an exception here.
In The Little Things, Washington and Malek play two cops who investigate a murder, with Leto, playing a character named Albert Sparma, as their chief suspect. “Well, it’s all in the name: Albert Sparma!” Leto told Entertainment Weekly. “He’s an unusual guy. He’s an outsider, a black sheep, someone who’s stuck in a part of life that maybe he feels like he doesn’t deserve. He’s been blessed and cursed with a significant amount of intelligence and wit, but doesn’t really fit into society so well. For me, it was an opportunity to make a complete transformation, which I took full advantage of and that was a lot of fun, in the preparation, the research, and the building of the character.” The Morbius star also described Washington as my Brando, Pacino, De Niro all rolled up into one.”
Here’s the official plot synopsis:
Kern County Deputy Sheriff Joe “Deke” Deacon (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 (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.
The Little Things will open in theaters and on HBO Max on January 29, 2021.