On paper the new psychological crime thriller “The Little Things” has all the ingredients for something special. It has Denzel Washington playing a deputy sheriff who arrives in Los Angeles to help hunt down a cunning serial killer. A supporting cast topped with fellow Academy Award winners Rami Malek and Jared Leto. A dark and moody David Fincher “Manhunter” vibe. And music by fifteen-time Oscar nominated composer James Horner. But having the best ingredients doesn’t guarantee a tasty dish.

“The Little Things” reunites director John Lee Hancock with Newman, cinematographer John Schwartzman and editor Robert Frazen. The four previously worked together on 2019’s underrated period crime drama “The Highwayman”. The two movies are similar in that both are character-centered slow burns. But “The Little Things” proudly embraces its gritty neo-noir flavor while leaving the impression that the film could have been plucked right out of the early 1990’s, back when crime thrillers were all the rave.

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Speaking of the early 90’s, the story (written by Hancock) is set in 1990 and begins with an effective mood-setting prologue. A young woman drives down a rural highway late at night singing along with the B-52’s blaring on her radio. Suddenly another car quickly approaches, terrorizing her for the next four minutes and giving us a good sense of what to expect in terms of look and tone. Schwartzman’s use of darkness and light along with Newman’s slyly menacing score creates at atmosphere soaked in dread. It’s a good way to kick things off.

We’re then introduced to Washington’s Joe “Deke” Deacon. He’s a Kern County Deputy Sheriff who comes from a long line of tortured big screen law enforcement officers. His particular sins of the past still haunt him, lingering in his mind but out of our sight for most of film. They trace back to his days as a Los Angeles homicide detective and slowly comes into focus after he’s sent to LA by his Captain to retrieve evidence from his old department. There Deke is greeted with cold shoulders, some not-so-subtle jabs, and a general sense of ‘you’re not welcome here’. There’s clearly some history and hard feelings.

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Before returning home Deke meets Sergeant Jimmy Baxter (Malek), a young but capable detective heading the homicide department. Baxter is described by others as “a good cop” and a family man from The Valley. He’s also the lead investigator on a stalled serial killer case. With four bodies and no suspects he’s facing mounting pressure from both the press and the public. When Baxter is called to a new crime scene that could be linked to the serial killings he invites Deke to come along. “Maybe you can even give me a few pointers.”

Hancock wastes no time steering away from the territorial chest-pounding and ‘my way vs. your way‘ storyline. You know, the one where the outsider from another jurisdiction comes in and clashes with the officer in charge only to win his or her trust and friendship over time. It’s been done countless times before. Here there is some early distrust (and for good reason) but not a lot of wrangling. Instead we get two cops who can actually work together despite one’s stress and the other’s baggage. For Baxter the pressure is weighing on him as is the fear of losing the case to the Feds. For Deke, it doesn’t take a lot of sniffing around to see it’s much more personal for him. He knows the routine, understands the obsession, and is well acquainted with the pitfalls.

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All of this falls in line with one of Hancock’s biggest interests – exploring the minds of the cops more than getting into the mind of the killer. The film uses a lot of the genre’s dressing to explore how homicide investigation can consume an officer, grind them down, put them on edge, and even lead to a darker side of policing. It’s something Deke understands all too well. And it only intensifies when Leto shows up playing an eccentric loner and neighborhood repairman; a game-playing true-crime enthusiast who quickly becomes the prime suspect.

While some of the performances work better than others, they get the job done. From the subdued yet effortlessly convincing Washington to the stiff and mumbly Malek to the genuinely creepy and cryptic Leto. The patient slow rhythms of the storytelling may disappoint the action-starved, but they’re well-suited for this type of absorbing character study masked as a throwback crime flick from the 90’s. And instead of ending with the predictable iconic pop of something like “Se7en” or “Silence of the Lambs”, Hancock goes the subversive morally thorny route, looking at his character’s humanity through a lens of grace and critique. It’s a smart and satisfying choice. “The Little Things” opens January 29th in theaters and streaming on HBO Max.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

About midway through Steve McQueen’s compact “Lovers Rock” is a scene sure to be written about in nearly every review you’ll read. Let’s just call it the “Silly Games” scene, a long ten-minute slow dance that encapsulates the entire movie. A room full of young West Indian men and women intimately dance to Janet Kay’s reggae hit “Silly Games”. The camera takes a seductively observational role, slowly weaving between dancers, capturing the euphoria that keeps them singing and dancing well after the song ends. Clearly the characters and the filmmaker are lost in the freedom of the moment and the music. I wish I had been.

If the “Silly Games” scene works for you then I can almost guarantee “Lovers Rock” will too. The film, part two of McQueen’s “Small Axe” anthology series for Amazon’s Prime, is all about observing and immersing. Its aim is to lose its audience in the sumptuous experience of the people we see. Not in a story or even the characters for that matter, but in the experience itself. It’s pretty audacious and at times intensely romantic. But if you aren’t fully in-tune with what McQueen is doing “Lovers Rock” may lose your attention despite only clocking in at a lean 68 minutes.

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In its most basic form the story is about a group of friends who throw a house party. That’s it. But McQueen is a crafty filmmaker and he fills in the margins with meaningful subtext and a 1980 London setting that’s ripe for social commentary. Still the movie leaves most of that outside, instead focusing on the party as a place of freedom and release. It’s almost experimental in its disregard for plot or structure. Instead its focus is on simply moving from room to room, soaking in the atmosphere and swaying to the steady reggae beats from the DJ. At times McQueen’s camera creates such an intimacy that you can feel the heat on the dance floor and smell the pot of boiling curry goat in the kitchen.

The camera familiarizes us with several faces and checks in on them from time to time. A young woman named Martha (Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn) is about as close as we come to a lead character. Early in the film we see her sneaking out of her parents’ house and meeting up with her bestie Patti (Shaniqua Okwok). The two hit the house party where Martha meets a charmer named Franklyn (Micheal Ward). Several other thinly-sketched but intriguing partygoers come in and out of the roaming camera’s view, revealing just enough personality to leave you wishing you knew them better.

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But fleshing out characters isn’t what McQueen is after. It’s not that he isn’t interested in them. Quite the opposite. But he’s content with implying certain things about them, both individually and communally, and leaving the rest to us. It’s a welcome trust of a filmmaker with his audience, but considering how little we’re given it’s a case where filling in the blanks isn’t as satisfying as it should be.

“Lovers Rock” is an easy movie for me to admire but a tough one for me to love. Sometimes it’s sweet and sumptuous. Other times it plays like a music video. The intense closeups and slow pans, the dance floor vignettes, the almost sultry love for hemp and harmony – it all helps create a realistic setting that’s almost tangible to the senses. And you have to appreciate the film as an exploration of cultural identity during a very distinct time in London’s history. But it reached a point where the “experience” began to wear off and the lack of plot grew more and more noticeable. It ended up being like the “Silly Games” scene, bold and heartfelt but stretched well beyond its limits. “Lovers Rock” is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

VERDICT – 2.5 STARS

Steven Soderbergh’s latest “Let Them All Talk” is about as unconventional as they come. I’m not referring to the story or even the characters. It’s unconventional in the way the ever-experimenting Soderbergh made it. Filming lasted just under two weeks with the majority taking place on a cruise ship as it crossed the Atlantic full of actual staff and customers. Soderbergh shot the film himself with his own camera using natural lighting and with only sound equipment present. And the cast improvised most of the dialogue with Deborah Eisenberg’s screenplay serving as an outline rather an actual script.

The film is based on a short story written by Eisenberg about three old friends reconnecting and eventually opening up about hurt feelings from their past. It is directed, shot, and edited by Soderbergh and anchored by three charismatic veteran actresses. With its small budget and limited setting, the film is fully focused on its characters, heavily relying on their frequent and immensely talky interactions. Let’s just say the film is appropriately titled, but it works thanks to a game cast with the talent to pull it off.

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Meryl Streep plays Alice, a Pulitzer Prize winning writer who is set to win a major award from her peers. The problem is the ceremony is being held in England and she can’t fly. So her agent Karen (Gemma Chan) organizes a transatlantic cruise (oops, crossing) for her client. Karen has well-meaning motives of her own. With her boss breathing down her neck, she desperately needs to get details on Alice’s long-awaited next book. Her hopes are the cruise (errr, crossing) will give Alice time to finally finish her manuscript.

Alice agrees to go but her only condition is that she can invite some friends along. So she calls two old college pals she hasn’t seen in years in hopes of reuniting the “Gang of 3“. Both agree to come – Susan (Dianne Wiest), an easy-going women’s advocate from Seattle and the cash-strapped Roberta (Candace Bergen), a testy Texan who works in a Dallas department store selling lingerie. Alice also invites her nephew Tyler (Lucas Hedges), a university student in Cleveland. The final piece is Karen who secretly books herself a cabin to keep an eye on Alice and her writing progress.

Each board the Queen Mary 2 traveling from New York to Southampton, each with their own hesitations and expectations for the trip. The tightly wound Alice, the even keel Susan, and the surly Roberta finally get together for dinner in what plays like an awkward first meeting more than a reunion of old friends. Over the course of the voyage each slowly begins to unwind over an array of fine meals, boards games, and strolls along the deck. But along with breaking the ice comes the resurfacing of old wounds in desperate need of healing.

Meanwhile Tyler becomes the semi-reluctant go-between. Karen wants Tyler to keep an eye on Alice. Alice wants Tyler to keep tabs on her two friends. Roberta has Tyler running background checks on potential rich suitors, and so on. And Soderbergh often uses Tyler as our eyes and ears, observing finer details in conversations as well as noticing particularly usual behavior. For example who is that strange man who exits Alice’s room every morning at the same time?

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The performances are strong especially from the three vets who bring plenty of personality to their roles. Only Hedges has trouble with the improvisation, occasionally struggling to find his words. Some of his more dialogue-heavyscenes have a strange reality show feel to them, which I guess in a movie like this could be either a compliment or a criticism. I found it a little distracting.

There are stretches when “Let Them All Talk” loses any sense of progression either for the story or its characters. It simply stalls, heavy with conversations that do little to move things forward. But that’s actually by design. The film is all about how far we will go to avoid the conversations we need to be having and how waiting too late can have its consequences. It shows how easy we turn our attention away from problems that need dealing with even if it’s with someone we call a friend. Those are admirable ideas that Soderbergh does a good job exploring. But that doesn’t always make for the most compelling viewing despite the incredible and hard-working talent on display. “Let Them All Talk” premieres December 10th on HBO Max.

VERDICT – 3 STARS

Those familiar with Dylan Thomas would probably agree that the man was an enigma. Both in life and in his untimely demise, Thomas was a hard book to read. Look no further than the numerous biographies, many of which give very different accounts of the Welsh writer and especially of his death on November 9, 1953 in New York City. He was a brilliant but self-destructive wordsmith who fully embraced the ‘doomed poet‘ persona. The new film “Last Call” looks at him through that lens but with some added layers of complexity.

Steven Bernstein writes, directs, and co-produces this intriguing bio-drama that is all about digging into Thomas’ troubled psyche during his last day prior to his death at age 39. It’s said that late that evening Thomas returned to the Chelsea Hotel in New York and declared “I’ve had 18 straight whiskies. I think that’s the record!” Despite eyewitness claims to the contrary, Bernstein’s film spends a lot of time imagining those hours in the White Horse Tavern leading up to his 18th and final drink as the poet slips further down the rabbit hole of depression and intoxication.

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Bernstein doesn’t get caught up sharing the full timeline of Thomas’ life. Instead he breaks up the bar scenes with a batch of flashbacks, flash-forwards, and several alcohol induced fantasies. The leaps back in time provide glimpses of his stormy marriage to Caitlin Thomas (Romola Garai) who he left in England to care for their three kids while he does readings across America. She writes letters that seemingly go unanswered, pleading for him to send back money to help clothe and feed their children. Meanwhile Thomas (played by a mesmerizing Rhys Ifans) wrestles with guilt and his true feelings for his wife.

Bernstein brings several other characters in who offer outside perspective on Thomas’ hard living. John Malkovich plays Dr. Felton who tries to warn Thomas about his out-of-control boozing. Tony Hale plays John Brinnan, a fellow writer and Thomas’ frustrated handler while he’s in New York. Zosia Mamet plays Penny who represents the gaze of adoring coeds Thomas would encounter during nearly every university stop. And Rodrigo Santoro plays Carlos the bartender, an enabler at first but perhaps the only person who truly understands Thomas.

The story arcs for all of the supporting characters revolve around Thomas, highlighting his dominating personality. Yet despite his success and unquenched bravado, there is an abject sadness that even a haze of alcohol can’t conceal. Ifans brilliantly captures both sides of the man through countless self-gratifying monologues that get more dour as the story moves forward.

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Several of Bernstein’s style choices are oddly implemented but work fairly well – the fractured timeline, the strategic cuts between black-and-white and color, the drunken hallucinations that almost feel plucked from another film. It amounts to a strangely unconventional yet satisfying account that disregards the tendencies of most current day big screen biographies.

It will be interesting to watch the reactions to “Last Call”. The movie forces you to get in tune with Thomas’ special brand of verbose communication which mainly consists of eloquent declamations full of self-centered grandeur. Admittedly it can be exhausting watching Thomas suck the air out of every scene. Yet I also found it fascinating in a grim, tragic sense and Ifans owns every scene much like his character owns every room he enters. It’s cemented by rock-solid supporting performances and a director willing to take risks even if they don’t always work the way he hoped. “Last Call” is now showing in select theaters.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

My second dive into Amazon’s “Welcome to Blumhouse” series was the snappy domestic thriller “The Lie”. The film actually premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival back in 2018, but it wasn’t picked up for distribution until August 2020. It’s the second of eight original films producer Jason Blum is doing for Amazon Prime. All of the movies center around the similar theme of “family and love as a redemptive or destructive force”. Each come from uniquely fresh filmmakers who explore the subject matter in their own distinct style.

“The Lie” comes from writer-director Veena Sud and is an adaptation of a 2015 German film titled “We Monsters”. It’s hardly the kind of film you would expect from the horror-focused Blumhouse. It has already met criticism for its lack of scares, but it makes sense considering this is in no way a horror movie. It’s a domestic drama/thriller that’s far more interested in the central family dynamic than the murder mystery the film is built upon.

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Sud begins her film with a montage of old videos. They show a bright and sunny little girl named Kayla sharing fun moments with her mom and dad. Within those few brief images we see the picture of a happy family. Sadly, a lot can change in just a few years. Jump ahead to now 15-year-old Kayla (Joey King) and we see a much different girl. The smile and playful chatter has given way to a moody, frustrated teen. We’re quickly shown the reason for her melancholy.

Turns out Kayla’s parents have divorced and both are trying to move on with new people in their lives. Her mother Rebecca (Mireille Enos) is a successful corporate layer dating a nice-enough business traveler. Her father Jay (Peter Sarsgaard) is a middle-aged musician having a fling with one of his bandmates. Both parents try their best under the circumstances, but Kayla still feels lost in a new life she never asked for.

As Jay drives Kayla to a ballet school retreat they pick up her friend Brittany (Devery Jacobs) at a bus stop. Several miles down the road the girls need a roadside bathroom break. Kayla and Brittany run into the woods and a short time later Jay hears a chilling scream. He runs through the snow to find his stunned daughter sitting alone on a bridge. Jay frantically begins searching for Brittany until Kayla suddenly admits to pushing her friend off the bridge.

Assuming Brittany is dead, Jay hurries Kayla into the car and drives away. After telling Rebecca what happened the parents decide to keep quiet for fear of ruining their daughter’s future. But (as you would expect) soon their cover-up begins to unravel especially when Brittany’s father (Cas Anvar) begins asking questions. And you can’t really blame him. Several of the family’s actions are almost begging to be questioned.

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But that’s actually a point of the film. It shows what happens when you compound one bad decision with another. It shows how a desperate and emotionally rattled person can do rash and unthinkable things. The film also prods us to wonder how well we really know our own kids. And how far will a family go to ‘protect’ their daughter? Don’t get me wrong, this is no intellectually stimulating cinematic probe. But some people may be surprised at how relevant these questions are today, and the film’s answers to them intentionally pushes rationality to the brink.

But unfortunately this is a movie with an obligatory twist and it’s one I figured out within the first 20 minutes. Strangely I can’t pinpoint one particular instance where the movie tips its hand. Yet I had an idea where it was going and that’s exactly where it went. I still enjoyed the meat of the movie, the committed performances, and a few scenes of genuinely good tension. Unfortunately it ends with one of the most ho-hum, nonchalant reveals imaginable. Sarsgaard and Enos deserve credit for working hard to sell the scene. But it ends up cutting the legs out from under what is otherwise a surprising effective high-stress thriller. “The Lie” is streaming now on Amazon Prime.

VERDICT- 3.5 STARS

I have to admit the new film “Let Him Go” had me onboard just with its cast. Kevin Costner as a retired sheriff, Diane Lane as his tough resolute wife, and Lesley Manville as a wicked backwoods matriarch. You have three screen veterans whom I love starring in a gritty family drama set across Montana and North Dakota. Talk about a movie that’s right up my alley. So considering all of those glowing personal affections, my expectations were probably a little higher than most.

Don’t you love it when a highly anticipated movie doesn’t let you down? That’s certainly the case with “Let Him Go”. This character-driven neo-Western drama comes from Thomas Bezucha, a Massachusetts native who you would swear was born and raised in Big Sky country. From the very start his film makes such great use of its setting, whether it’s the stunning snow-capped mountain backdrops or the sprawling desolate landscapes that are both ominous and beautiful. Bezucha wastes no time planting our feet on the rich rocky ground.

Photo Courtesy of Focus Features

What surprised me most about “Let Him Go” was the script. This could have easily turned out to be a much more conventional thriller. But Bezucha (who both writes and directs) burrows into his two lead characters making them the focal point. I haven’t read the 2013 novel by Larry Watson, but Bezucha’s adaptation centers itself on the themes of grief, regret and loss, examining them with heartfelt and earnest emotion. The film does have a few genre flourishes, but they come well after we’ve connected with these characters which give the scenes more weight than they would have otherwise.

Set in the early 1960’s, George and Margaret Blackledge (Costner and Lane) are still struggling to cope with the death of their son. Margaret, once an accomplished horse trainer, lost her enthusiasm and has quit riding altogether. George has buried his pain, content with locking it away rather than dealing with it. Both go about their days work on their small Montana ranch doing an admirable job concealing their heartbreak. But it gets tougher when their son’s widow Lorna (Kayli Carter) remarries, this time to a miscreant named Donnie Weboy (Will Brittain).

Neither George or Margaret like Donnie and are especially worried about their grandson Jimmy (played by twins Bram and Otto Hornung). Their suspicions are confirmed after Margaret witnesses Donnie slap both Lorna and Jimmy. The next day she goes to check on them only to discover that they have packed up and left town. No notice, no goodbyes. Determined that her grandson won’t grow up in an abusive home, Margaret convinces George to help her track them down and bring Jimmy home. But Donnie’s a Weboy, a notorious family name known all across North Dakota. The Blackledge’s track Jimmy to the remote Weboy farm house which is ran by the family matriarch Blanche Weboy (a wickedly fun Manville). And let’s just say she’s not too keen on letting Jimmy go.

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As you can tell there is a lot of room in the story for tension. And we do get some really good white-knuckled scenes when the Blackledges and the Weboys get together. But at the same time there is a quiet solemnity that runs through much of the film. Bezucha leans heavily on Lane and Costner and their ability to convey deep emotions often with little dialogue. Both performances are superb and give us layered characters rich with honest feelings and unshakable authenticity. It helps that Lane and Costner have a strikingly natural chemistry. Of course this isn’t the first time they played husband and wife on screen. They were also Superman’s earth parents Ma and Pa Kent.

The film’s shakiest scenes come when the Blackledges befriend a thinly sketched Native American named Peter (Booboo Stewart). We see shades of an interesting character but he needed more attention. Otherwise “Let Him Go” hits all the right chords from its wonderfully low-key early rhythm to its effectively pulpy final third. It helps to have seasoned talents giving perfectly calibrated performances. And the story’s unexpected layers of humanity make us genuinely care while ultimately bringing out the deeper meaning to the film’s title. “Let Him Go” is now showing in theaters”.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS