John Lee Hancock’s modern noir “The Little Things” upgrades to 4K UHD
- Peggy Earle & Bill Kelley III
- Aug 27
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 27
4K ULTRA HD REVIEW / HDR SCREENSHOTS
(1) Denzel Washington stars as the aging Kern County Deputy Joe Deacon, a former Los Angeles Sheriff’s Detective, who softly speaks to the corpse Julie Brock (Tiffany Gonzalez), the latest victim in a series of killings in Southern California. (2) Rami Malek plays young detective Jim Baxter, who addresses the media as the lead investigator in the murders. (3) Prime suspect Albert Sparma, played by Jared Leto.
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“THE LITTLE THINGS”
4K Ultra HD; 2021; R for violent/disturbing images, profanity, and full nudity
Best extra: “A Contrast in Styles” featurette
REMEMBER how crazy it was to see a movie during COVID-19?
Warner Bros. decided to send all of its new movies, including the crime thriller “The Little Things” starring Denzel Washington and Rami Malek, straight to HBO Max, after a short run at the multiplex.
During the pandemic, “Little Things” didn’t perform well at the box office, only grossing $15 million domestically and $31 million worldwide. Director John Lee Hancock’s (“Saving Mr. Banks,” “The Blind Side”) film received so-so reviews from critics, with a 44 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, while audiences pushed its likability to 67 percent.
(1&2) Deputy Deacon tells his dog goodbye before heading to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's office to pick up a pair of bloodstained boots as evidence for an upcoming court hearing. (3) The first encounter between Deacon and Baxter doesn’t go well. Baxter is having Deacon's vehicle towed for blocking his car in the parking lot.
This summer, “The Little Things” finally got a 4K Ultra HD physical disc release, previously only available digitally since 2021. It joins a couple of other Warner films that were MIA on 4K disc during the health crisis, but were released last summer and are excellent TRUE 4K mastered watches.
“Just Mercy” – the powerful true-life courtroom drama starring Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx, with Brie Larson.
“Let Him Go” – the compelling neo-Western starring Kevin Costner and Diane Lane.
HONESTLY, it’s always a pleasure to watch Denzel Washington perform, and “The Little Things” is no exception. The two-time Oscar winner is 70, and this month starring in Spike Lee’s latest “Highest 2 Lowest,” (a short theatrical run before hitting Apple TV+ on Sept. 5), an adaptation of Akira Kurosawa’s crime thriller “High and Low” (1963).
(1-3) By nightfall, Baxter asks Deacon to ride along to a murder scene that could be a victim of the serial killer. (4) A possible suspect, Stan Peters (Fredrick Koehler). (5&6) Deacon gets involved in the investigation, and in his hotel room, he posts portraits and bios of three young women who were killed years earlier while he was a detective in the L.A. Sheriff Department. (7) He continues to have flashbacks to the murder scene.
“The Little Things” is set in 1990, so there’s no ubiquitous cell phone ownership, nor other tech advances such as GPS, etc., that we take for granted today. Washington stars as the aging Detective Joe Deacon, known as Deke, who is asked to help investigate a series of murders in Los Angeles. Deke had once worked in the big city, but tragedy exiled him to the California hinterlands of Kern County, north of L.A., where his memories and his regrets are all he has to keep him company.
Deke’s old job has recently been filled by a young detective, Jim Baxter, played by Rami Malek in a major departure from his role as Freddie Mercury in “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Baxter is a soft-spoken, all-business kind of cop. He’s generous enough to welcome Deke into his search for the killer, but his determination to solve the case becomes obsessive. The prime suspect comes down to a loner with the unlovely name of Albert Sparma, played with almost caricaturish creepiness by Jared Leto, whose long stringy hair looks like it hasn’t been washed in a good while. Sparma is scrawny, except for a noticeable potbelly meant, one supposes, to add to his all-around repulsiveness.
(1) Baxter’s partner, Detective Jamie Estrada (Natalie Morales), provides some information. (2&3) Deacon follows possible suspect Sparma to a bridge near milepost 467 in Ventura County. (4) Baxter gets upset with Criminalist F. Byrnes. (5&6) Baxter and Deacon both question Sparma.
VIDEO
Sadly, in 2021, physical disc lovers only got the 1080p Blu-ray, which still looks very good, but can’t stand up to 4K quality – especially since it was captured on 8K digital cameras (2.39:1 aspect ratio) and mastered in TRUE 4K.
The new 4K disc expands on the quality of the original 4K digital presentation, with the slightest increase in contrast and the color palette. The onscreen 4K clarity is obvious from the numerous close-ups of Washington and Malek, to distant nighttime shots, as the lead characters arrive at the murder scene of another young woman.
The HDR10 and Dolby Vision grading give dark scenes more depth with their deep black levels. It also provides a higher peak brightness – evident from the cops’ flashlights as they search for clues in a dark room and during a late-night murder scene under a bridge. Facial toning for the diverse cast is natural and realistic.
AUDIO
The 4K disc ports over the Dolby Atmos soundtrack, and the bass response and overall fidelity are much more dynamic, with plenty of effects and music cues from the score by 15-time Oscar-nominated composer Thomas Newman (“1917,” “Skyfall,” “WALLˑE”). It’s an excellent counterpoint to the drama.
EXTRAS
The same two short featurettes are carried over onto the 4K disc.
“Four Shades of Blue” (9 mins.) – highlights the four times Washington played a cop (so far) in his career, and a comparison of those portrayals.
“The Contrast of Styles” (8 mins.) – compares the acting approach of Washington and Malek. It also serves as a brief making-of featurette.
Washington calls Joe Deacon “the guy who shows up late.” Hancock sees his film as a kind of “stew you’re trying to cook,” and enjoyed the interaction between Washington and Malek in front of the cameras, excited to “see them combine their chemistries.”
Malek says, “As much as they butt heads, [Deke and Baxter] have so much in common,” such as “perseverance and dedication to solving the crime.” Leto calls Washington “one of the Titans,” and recalls “what a thrill it was to be on set with him, create with him, and watch a master work.” Adding to the lavish praise for Washington, Hancock mentions the various takes the actor does for scenes, in which he “gives a ton of choices,” many of which are “surprising and great.”
Producer Mark Johnson (“Rain Man,” “The Rookie”) calls Washington “one of the two or three legit movie stars on screen.” Leto describes his character as “highly intelligent” and believes he “enjoys interacting with Deke.” Malek says Baxter is “unlike any other character I’ve played … a challenge,” and that he “wanted to pick Denzel’s brain about everything.” For Washington, “an actor is like a detective; peeling back layers to get to the character … to solve the crime.”
— Peggy Earle and Bill Kelley III, High-Def Watch producer
(1&2) The investigation leads from the city to a rural area of L.A. County. (3&4) Baxter and Deacon say their goodbyes, and the deputy returns to Kern County.
SPECS:
100 GB disc
TRUE 4K mastering
Digital cameras – Redcode RAW 8K, 2.39:1 aspect ratio
Video bitrate: Varies from low 50 Megabits per second to 80 Mbps, with a running time of 128 mins.
HDR10 maximum light level: 601 nits
Max frame average light level: 86 nits
Filmed in Los Angeles and Ventura counties