These two movies have little to nothing in common with each other, but I decided to group them together anyway. One was the story of a detective that went too far in one case, but he gets a chance at the big time once again, and the other was a story about starting a business in Oregon in the 1820s. Neither of the movies were spectacular, but they both had their merits. The Little Things had more publicity from being an HBO Max release, whereas First Cow was more of a slow burn in making it into the public eye, and it was hurt by the pandemic ruining a more widespread theatrical release.
The Little Things looked dazzling in the commercial due to the super star cast that it used. Denzel Washington was Co-starring with Rami Malek and Jared Leto was a supporting actor star. From the commercials, not much could be gained about the plot other than that it was going to be a crime thriller. This held true. Denzel’s character was a cop who had been demoted to a lesser base away from the big city due to a mistake he made. He was known for over working himself to the point where it ruined a large part of his life, but when a case out in his small town connected with the one taking place Los Angles, he gets another chance at a major serial killer case. He gets to work with his replacement Jim Baxter, Rami Malek, to try and figure out who the serial killer was. As the story progressed Deke, Denzel, gets back into his old ways and gets deep into the case, and Baxter follows as well with an unhealthy commitment to solving the crime, which eventually leads to Baxter making the same mistake Deke made that got him into so much trouble. There was a nice twist at the end as well, but one must pay attention to the little things to get it.
This movie was a slow burn. The story took a long time to develop and get to any juicy part. Much of the first hour and a half were largely dialogue based with little action. Albert Sparma, Jared Leto’s character, and eventually the main suspect was not even introduced until halfway through the movie, and he was by far the best part. He played the potential crazed serial killer so well, from just the look in his eyes to the way that he spoke his dialogue, he just did it all to a high level. Denzel and Malak were good in the movie as well, but it did not seem like they had as much of a chance to flaunt their true talents as Leto had. The story had potential to be good, but for most of the movie it fell flat. They had some tension built in, but that did not occur until the last 30 minutes of the movie, so there was a long hour and a half slog to get to the intriguing part of the story.
(SPOILER) So the last 30 minutes of the movie involve Malak’s character going off into the desert with Leto, because Leto was going to show Malak where the bodies were buried, but when the confrontation got too contentious Malak bludgeoned Leto with a shovel, thus accidentally killing him. This was a similar mistake as to the one Denzel’s character made. So Malak killed Leto without having any real proof that he was the serial killer, so Denzel decided the best course of action was to bury Leto in the desert and make it look like he disappeared. Malak went along with this, but it left him with a brick of guilt that weighed him down so much that he quit his job and became more distant from his family. Denzel knew this, so he sent Malak a red hair barrette. He did this because the last victim was known for always wearing one, so he made it seem like he found it in Leto’s apartment, thus making him look guilty, so this would free Malak of his guilt, even though in reality there was no further evidence. There was no clear conclusion at the end as to whether Leto committed the horrendous murders or not. If there was afterword about whether similar killings continued or not did not appear, but of course there is always the chance it could be a copycat killer.
The second film was First Cow, a smaller indie picture about two guys that were trying to strike it rich in 1820s Oregon. Much of the first half of the movie seemed relatively inconsequential to the second half of the movie, other than the fact that it showed how the two men became acquainted. The first cow aspect comes in because a rich man that lived in the area was the first man to have a cow in the area, and the two men decide their business was going to be making biscuits. They needed to sneak into the pasture at night to steal milk from the cow so that they could make their biscuits that were selling out daily. They were able to slowly raise their price because the demand was so high, and they banked so much money that their dreams of going to San Francisco and starting a real business were becoming a reality. Then trouble comes when they almost get caught stealing the milk.
It was a story about the American dream and about capitalism. One man, King Lu, came from Asia searching for a fortune either in gold or by starting his own business. The other man Cookie had moved out to the West coast following work and trying to make a living, but he had failed to be successful so far. When they team up, they start to make biscuits, and they start to make a large sum of money. Their product was in such a high demand that they were selling out daily, and when a product is in high demand and low supply, then the producer can dictate the price as they please, so from the start of their business till they had to leave town, they raised their price over 100 percent. The problem was the odds seemed to be stacked against them as the little guy in the situation. They needed the help of the richer man in town, but they seemed too scared to ask for his help, so they ended up stealing from him. Thus making it hard for these two people with a passion for their craft to get it started, which seems all too true even today. Those who are rich have access to best materials and have the easiest time in creating capitalistic ventures, whereas those with lesser fortunes must struggle, even if they have a successful idea, to implement it.
Both movies seemed pertinent in their own way to the times. The Little Things taps into the fervent love of true crime that has saturated the content world recently. Sadly it does not do as great of a job as other true crime related content has done, and it does not compare to the best in the serial killer genre like Zodiac, but it was an okay way to spend a couple of hours on a Friday night. If you enjoy these kinds of movies, then I would recommend it, but if they do not interest you, then this one is not worth your time. First Cow seemed like relevant to the present due to the whole game stop day traders verse hedge fund managers, it seems like a similar situation. The little guy going up against those that have all the resources to invest. Not quite the same situation, but it seemed to have a similar feel to it. First Cow should be watched because it is going to have a presence at the academy awards, it might not win any of the awards, but it will be in contention for awards.
Comments