The Little Things: The Main Characters, Ranked By Intelligence
The latest HBO Max movie The Little Things features an impressive cast and tells a compelling mystery revolving around the search for a serial killer. Denzel Washington stars as a former detective who helps a young detective (Rami Malek) with his latest case. They soon find a prime suspect (Jared Leto) who seems to enjoy toying with the investigators.
A good mystery always depends on how smart the characters at the center of it are. When the characters are not so bright, they make dumb mistakes or miss obvious things. When there are smart, it can be very compelling to watch them fit the pieces of the puzzle together.
9 Captain Farris
When Deacon (Washington) arrives in Los Angeles for a meaningless errand, he runs into Captain Farris (Terry Kinney), who used to be his partner back when Deacon was a homicide detective. Right away, it's clear Farris is not a fan of Deacon and wants him around as little as possible.
Later in the movie, it becomes clear why Farris has such animosity for Deacon but it's also clear he shares just as much of the blame. So not only is it foolish of Farris to act like Deacon is the only one at fault, but he also knew better than to let Deacon get involved in this latest case, especially since he's no longer a homicide detective. Instead, Farris just sits around doing nothing.
8 Detective Estrada
Jamie Estrada (Natalie Morales) is another young detective and the partner of the department's top detective, Jim Baxter (Malek). She is seen working the crime scenes with Baxter and seems like a fine and competent police officer. However, later in the movie, she makes one small yet devastating mistake.
Estrada is questioning a potential witness to the serial killer and is preparing to have her look at mugshots to point out the man. At the same time, the police are bringing their prime suspect to the station for questioning. Knowing this, Estrada allows the witness to go to the bathroom alone where she runs into the suspect in handcuffs, thus tainting any identification of the suspect by the witness. With that, Estrada potentially allows a guilty man to go free.
7 Ana Baxter
As the investigation continues, the movie introduces Detective Baxter's home life in which he is married with two children. His wife is Ana (Isabel Arraiza), who seems concerned with how much the case seems to be taking over her husband's life.
Ana is not seen as an unintelligent character nor does she seem particularly brilliant. In fact, the movie barely makes her a character at all. She is simply there to look concerned about her husband and do little else. There is no chance to even form an opinion about her one way or another.
6 Jim Baxter
When Jim Baxter is introduced in the movie, it is quickly established that he is a hotshot detective who has been very successful with his investigations in the past. He is shown to pick up on certain things at the crime scenes, but he also misses a lot that Deacon needs to point out.
As Baxter gets more obsessed with the case and with the prime suspect, Albert Sparma, he seems to become much more unintelligent. He makes stupid mistakes and allows Sparma to manipulate him and play with his mind without even realizing it.
5 Sal Rizoli
While some people are not happy to see Deacon return, Detective Sal Rizoli (Chris Bauer) is one of the friends he still has around. Sal was on the job back when Deacon was still there and he encourages him to stick around.
Sal recognizes Deacon's own talent as a detective and is smart enough to listen and encourage Baxter to work with him. However, Sal also knows about Deacon's dark past and doesn't seem to be overly concerned, which is pretty short-sighted and a little disturbing.
4 Flo Dunigan
Another person who is at least friendly to Deacon upon his return is Flo (Michael Hyatt), the police coroner who assists with the investigation. She is someone else who is good at her job and picks up on things that even Deacon would have overlooked. She is also smart enough to realize why Deacon is sticking around even if no one else seems to.
Like several other characters, Flo is someone who was involved with Deacon's dark past. Her role in it was an example of very poor judgment on her part as well as being very immoral. However, she seems to carry it better than the others, with a mix of guilt and cautiousness.
3 Tina Salvatore
The movie opens with an effectively chilling scene in which a young woman named Tina Salvatore (Sofia Vassilieva) is stalked by the supposed killer. Despite being in a terrifying situation, Tina makes some pretty smart decisions that ultimately lead to her surviving the ordeal, which is rare for this type of movie.
After nearly getting run off the road by a car, Tina allows it to pass her. When she sees it stopped on the road ahead of her, she speeds past it. When she sees the car continuing to pursue her, she pulls over to a gas station. She almost pulls a classic horror movie victim mistake by continually trying to get into the obviously closed gas station, but she eventually runs out on the highway to flag down a passing truck.
2 Joe "Deke" Deacon
The central character at the center of the story is Joe Deacon. Though he is working for a small sheriff's department outside of Los Angeles, he is drawn back into his old life of investigating murders.
Throughout the movie, Deacon is shown to be a brilliant detective, often seeing things that other overlook. He is also quite smart at interrogating witnesses and getting inside their heads. It is later revealed that he made a terrible mistake on the job years ago, but he also clearly knows how to cover his tracks when he decides to help someone else who makes a similar mistake.
1 Albert Sparma
After several murders and Deacon getting involved in the case, they soon zero in on Albert Sparma as the prime suspect. Sparma is an eccentric repairman who claims to be a crime buff and has a fascination with the case.
While Deacon begins following Sparma and trying to catch him in the act, Sparma quickly catches on and turns the tables on Deacon. At every turn, Sparma seems to be ahead of the police and continuously outsmarts them.
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