The Little Things

Year 14, Day 243 - 8/31/22 - Movie #4,234

BEFORE: This is going to wrap up August, so here's the format breakdown for the month: 

6 Movies watched on cable (saved to DVD): Julia, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street, Zoo, Cry Freedom, The Little Things

1 Movies watched on cable (not saved): Running With Beto

2 watched on Netflix: The Harder They Fall, Operation Mincemeat

3 watched on Amazon Prime: Mayor Pete, The Tomorrow War, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain

1 watched on Hulu: Summer of Soul
3 watched on Disney+: We Feed People, Wolfgang, Lightyear

1 watched on HBO MAX: Listening to Kenny G

2 watched in theaters: Jurassic World Dominion, Thor: Love and Thunder
1 watched on a random site: Conan O'Brien Can't Stop

20 TOTAL

Now that's a slow month - but I was holding back, trying to save some movies for September, so I wouldn't be as bored. Now, of course, I'm back to work at the second job, so now I don't know where I'll find the time to watch 22 films in September - now I'm wishing I'd really loaded up July and August. Oh, well. Denzel Washington carries over from "Cry Freedom" - and I'll get back to Kevin Kline later, in November, I think. 

THE PLOT: Kern County Deputy Sheriff Joe Deacon is sent to Los Angeles for what should have been a quick evidence-gathering assignment. Instead, he becomes embroiled in a search for a serial killer who is terrorizing the city. 

AFTER: Wow, this was a moody one - what can you say about a film where the lead character is a cop who's haunted by his past failures?  We assume at first that he's just super dedicated, but gradually we come to realize that he's maybe too focused on something that happened in the past - maybe a serial killer that he didn't catch?  Well, there is something but it's even worse than that, no spoilers here though.  But there's so much animosity from fellow cops when Joe Deacon returns to L.A. that surely there must have been a reason why he left - something that drove away his wife and his former partners on the force.  What is it?  

Deputy Sheriff Joe comes to L.A. to pick up a pair of boots, supposedly they're evidence in a past crime, and if he could just get those boots back to Kern County, the witness in a case would surely recognize them, and it's a slam-dunk conviction.  But then something keeps Joe in Los Angeles, and it's not the company - what can you say about a precinct where some of the cops are creepier than the serial killer suspects?  Or is that just Rami Malek having a creep-off with Jared Leto?  It's a bit tough to say - both characters, or maybe both actors, just seem more than a bit...off?  Maybe there's a fine line between a messed-up police officer and a messed-up suspect?  Is that where we're going with this one?  

When the call comes in about a homicide, possibly a serial killer targeting sex workers, Joe's reputation gets him on the scene, even if he's got no jurisdiction there.  The guy notices things, the little things, and those always turn out to be important. Like, what's missing from the fridge?  Who had a view into this apartment from another window?  And, umm, what was in the victim's digestive tract?  Thanks, I'd rather not know.  What is this, C.S.Ewwwww?  This film all takes place in the parts of Los Angeles that the movies and TV shows don't ever show us - the seedy neighborhoods, the strip clubs, the abandoned gas stations and the cheap appliance repair shops, the gangs that come out at night and the cars that patrol the streets with their lights off, looking for the lost and vulnerable people that won't be missed.  Yeah, you may want to sleep with the lights on after watching this. 

Deacon manages to land on a suspect, but it's someone who's never able to give a straight answer about anything.  Is he hiding something, or is he just the kind of guy who hates cops and other authority figures, but also follows murder stories closely?  Is he a killer, or just a wannabe?  If only some police person could break into his home to see if he's got a treasure trove of items from his victims - but that's illegal search and seizure, right?  And if he's just a normal (but creepy) guy, then why is he taunting the police at every turn?  Just for kicks? 

And why does this feel a bit like "Seven" meets "True Detective" with a bit of, I don't know, "Memento" thrown in at the end?  Not that anyone here has short-term memory problems, in fact it's just the opposite, everyone seems to have had an experience that they're trying very hard to forget, only they can't.  Is that what life is about, just focusing on the bad mistakes you made when you were younger?  God, I hope there's more to being an older person than this, I really do.  Why, there's going out for breakfast with friends!  Working the night shift and then sleeping all day, and memorizing the details of every rest stop on the California Highway system!  You know what, it's not worth it - I hear it's better to burn out than fade away.  I can't help but feel empty-ish after watching this, like I kind of wish more had...happened?

Also starring Rami Malek (last seen in "Papillon"), Jared Leto (last seen in "House of Gucci"), Chris Bauer (last seen in "Sully"), Michael Hyatt (last seen in "Like Crazy"), Terry Kinney (last seen in "The Game of Their Lives"), Natalie Morales (last seen in "Stuber"), Isabel Arraiza, Joris Jarsky (last seen in "The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day"), Glenn Morshower (last seen in "Aftermath"), Sofia Vassilieva, Jason James Richter, John Harlan Kim, Frederick Koehler (last seen in "A Kiss Before Dying"), Judith Scott (last seen in "Flightplan"), Maya Kazan (last seen in "Frances Ha"), Tiffany Gonzalez, Anna McKitrick, Sheila Houlahan, Olivia Washington (last seen in "The Comedian"), Ebony N. Mayo, J. Downing, Sophia Castro, Calliah Sophie Estrada, Thomas Crawford, Jeff Corbett, Stephanie Erb, Lee Garlington (last seen in "Some Kind of Beautiful"), Dimiter D. Marinov (last seen in "Green Book"), Charlie Saxton (last seen in "Movie 43"), Adam J. Harrington (last seen in "Connie and Carla"), Kerry O'Malley (last seen in "Terminator Genisys"). 

RATING: 5 out of 10 newspaper headlines