Summary

• The Little Things features Denzel Washington in his 13th law enforcement role, showcasing his versatile talent in crime dramas over the years.
• Despite mixed reviews, The Little Things became a global hit on Netflix three years after its release, showcasing Washington's enduring appeal.
• Training Day and Inside Man stand out as Denzel Washington's best cop movies, with iconic performances and critical acclaim setting them apart.

The Little Things featured Denzel Washington in a familiar role despite its underwhelming critical reception. The Little Things, written and directed by John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side, Saving Mr. Banks, The Highwaymen), stars Washington alongside two fellow Oscar winners Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club, Suicide Squad, Blade Runner 2049) and Rami Malek (Mr. Robot, Bohemian Rhapsody, No Time to Die) in a tense crime drama set in Los Angeles. Washington plays Joe 'Deke' Deacon in The Little Things, a County Deputy Sheriff who becomes deeply ingrained in the search for a serial killer who is terrorizing Los Angeles.

Despite The Little Things divisive reception, it recently became a global sensation on Netflix three years after its original theatrical release. The Little Things 45% Rotten Tomatoes score and 54 Metascore likely contributed to its poor box office performance, which only generated $31 million worldwide despite its $30 million production budget. While The Little Things' disappointing box office was also affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the film's poor critical reception was certainly disappointing given the incredible combined talents of Washington, Malek, and Leto. Surprisingly, The Little Things was one of Denzel Washington's highest paying roles.

The Little Things is available to stream on Max and Netflix.

The Little Things Is The 13th Time Denzel Washington Has Played A Law-Enforcement Character

Washington's most famous cop portrayal is in 2001's Training Day

The Little Things marked the thirteenth time that Denzel Wahsingotn has played some type of police officer or law enforcement figure in a movie. He has played more than a dozen different cop, detective, or FBI agent characters throughout his decade-spanning career. The first movie that Washington portrayed a member of law enforcement was in 1989's The Mighty Quinn, an action crime drama directed by Carl Schenkel. He would then go onto play an ex-cop in both 1991's Ricochet directed by Russell Mulcaky and starring John Lithgow and Ice-T and 1995's Virtuosity, a sci-fi thriller directed by Brett Leonard and starring Russell Crowe.

In 1998's Fallen, Washington played homicide detective John Hobbes in another crime thriller about a serial killer. Fallen also starred Donald Sutherland, John Goodman, and James Gandolfini. He then played the head of the FBI's Counterterrorism department in The Siege (1998) alongside Annette Benning and Bruce Willis, and another homicide detective in another serial killer thriller titled The Bone Collector alongside Angelina Jolie in 1999. His most famous portrayal of a police officer is arguably in Training Day (2001), in which he played the larger-than-life LAPD cop Alonzo Harris.

Denzel Washington's Cop Movies Are Surprisingly Divisive (Including The Little Things)

Inside Man and Training Day are his most critically acclaimed police dramas

During the 2000s, Washington portrayed a police chief in Florida named Matt Lee Whitlock in Out of Time (2003) alongside Sanaa Lathan and then-newcomer Eva Mendes. Washington then went on to play an A.T.F agent in 2006's explosive action thriller Déjà Vu directed by Tony Scott and starring Paula Patton, Val Kilmer, and Elle Fanning. In that same year, Washington also played Detective Keith Frazier in Spike Lee's celebrated heist drama Inside Man alongside a star-studded cast including Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Willem Dafoe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Christopher Plummer.

While Washington is undoubtedly a beloved and talented actor, his thirteen performances as a member of law enforcement have been very hit or miss over the years. His two efforts during the 2010s as a DEA agent in 2013's 2 Guns and as a U.S. Marshal in 2016's The Magnificent Seven both received lukewarm responses from critics that were virtually identical to those of The Little Things. The most critically acclaimed films that feature Washington portraying a member of law enforcement are Inside Man and Training Day, the latter of which Washington won his first Oscar for.

What Denzel Washington's Best Cop Movie Is

Inside Man is the highest-rated Washington cop film

While Washington's police movies have been mostly hit or miss, the two that stand clearly above the pack are Training Day and Inside Man. Despite Inside Man having a better performance at the box office and being more critically acclaimed by critics, it was Training Day that ended up getting Washington his first of two Academy Awards for acting. It can certainly be argued that Training Day is the best Washington cop movie because of his iconic and legendary performance alone. As an overall film, however, Inside Man is technically the better of the two. Regardless, fans of The Little Things should absolutely watch both Denzel Washington classics.