Review: The Little Things, Palmer, The Dig, and Penguin Bloom
Three Academy Award winners do not an interesting film make in the crime thriller The Little Things. Justin Timberlake tries to put his progressive acting hat on in Palmer. Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes dig up some dirt (but not the interesting kind) in The Dig. Finally, Naomi Watts is wheelchair bound (but certainly not Oscar bound) in Penguin Bloom.
More about The Little Things:
Kern County Deputy Sheriff Joe “Deke” Deacon (Washington) is sent to Los Angeles for what should have been a quick evidence-gathering assignment. Instead, he becomes embroiled in the search for a killer who is terrorizing the city. Leading the hunt, L.A. Sheriff Department Sergeant Jim Baxter (Malek), impressed with Deke’s cop instincts, unofficially engages his help. But as they track the killer, Baxter is unaware that the investigation is dredging up echoes of Deke’s past, uncovering disturbing secrets that could threaten more than his case. Starring: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto, Natalie Morales, Terry Kinney, and Michael Hyatt.
More about Palmer:
Former high school football star Eddie Palmer (Justin Timberlake) went from hometown hero to convicted felon, earning himself 12 years in a state penitentiary. He returns home to Louisiana, where he moves back in with Vivian (June Squibb), the grandmother who raised him. While trying to keep his head down and rebuild a quiet life for himself, Palmer is haunted by memories of his glory days and the suspicious eyes of his small town community. Things become more complicated when Vivian’s hard-living neighbor Shelly (Juno Temple) disappears on a prolonged bender, leaving her precocious and unique 7-year-old son Sam (Ryder Allen), often the target of bullying, in Palmer’s reluctant care. In time, Palmer is drawn into a more hopeful world as he forges a connection with Sam through their shared experience of being made to feel different by those around them. Life improves for Palmer, and a romance develops between him and Sam’s teacher Maggie (Alisha Wainwright). An inspiring and unexpected journey unfolds for the three of them, but soon Palmer’s past threatens to tear apart this new life.
Starring: Justin Timberlake, June Squibb, Juno Temple, Alisha Wainwright, and Ryder Allen
More about The Dig:
As WWII looms, a wealthy widow hires an amateur archaeologist to excavate the burial mounds on her estate. When they make a historic discovery, the echoes of Britain’s past resonate in the face of it’s uncertain future.
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, Lily James, and Johnny Flynn.
More about Penguin Bloom:
In 2013, Samantha Bloom (two-time Academy Award nominee Naomi Watts), her husband Cameron (The Walking Dead’s Andrew Lincoln) and their three sons left their home in Australia for a holiday in Thailand. While enjoying a view, Sam fell off of a rooftop due to what was later determined to be a rotted railing…breaking her vertebrae in two places. Paralyzed from the chest down, Sam — a lifelong outdoorswoman, surfer, and traveler —was unrecognizable to herself, and spent long months in a depression that made her question who she could be in the world and in her own family.
Starring: Naomi Watts, Andrew Lincoln, Jacki Weaver, and Rachel House