The Little Things (II) (2010)
8/10
I'm counting the minutes until Hollywood rips off this great Aussie story...
29 October 2014
IMDb's plot synopsis, the trailer and the DVD box hardly do justice to this fantastic storyline. All the same, the less you know about the plot, the more engrossed you'll be as it unfolds.

You still want to know what it's about? Well... to quote a great line from the movie (which I'm going to make it a point to say to someone at least thrice a day), "It's kind of hard to explain if you're not up on your Chaos Theory!"

In a nutshell, this is an odd love story between 2 characters: a millionaire-slacker & an agoraphobic, obsessive-compulsive girl who insists she has supernatural powers. Exactly what her powers are, we can't be sure of. Nor can we be sure of where the millionaire has stashed his money. All we know is that he's the world's most eligible bachelor, and she's the world's most inaccessible bachelorette and something of a freakshow.

Kathryn Beck's portrayal of the freakshow is so enthralling that you'll find yourself counting the seconds until her next scene. She plays madness in a way I've never seen, with equal portions of charm, cuteness and psychosis. Sort of like Amélie meets Carrie (Amélie being the mousy good samaritan in "Amélie" and Carrie being the girl who sorta made a barbecue of half the senior class in "Carrie"). It's the bizarre juxtaposition of these 2 extreme personalities that made Kathryn both entertaining and creepy to the bone. And you just gotta love her crackly voice which, depending on what mood she's in, sounds like either a cute fairy munchkin who will lead you to the Emerald Castle... or a creepy old witch about to boil you in toad livers.

The millionaire-slacker, played by Chris Hillier, is the more mentally balanced of the two but not without his own eccentricities which really flesh him out and make him a likable character. The two have great chemistry, especially when they're arguing.

What I really enjoyed about this movie was the unpredictable way it was presented. Through the characters' bipolar performances as well as a cool soundtrack that oscillates between fun & disturbing music, we never know for sure if this love story is a romcom or an epic tragedy. All the way up until the final, nail-biting conclusion, it could go either way, and the director did a great job of maintaining that suspense until the last 10 seconds.

Filmed on a micro-budget of around $20k, shot in 15 days with a skeleton crew of 20 people (who doubled as extras), "The Little Things" is a remarkable achievement with a great story, entertaining script and some gorgeous visuals to tie it all up. There are some hauntingly beautiful shots that make artistic use of sunlight & dust particles (or in one scene, thousands of shimmering snowflakes) which I'm sure was the director's way of drawing our attention to little things (aha! "Little Things". Duh I just got that).

Given its unique story, this movie defies comparison. But I would say if you enjoyed "Amélie" (2001) or "Benny & Joon" (1993) or "Camille" (2007) or "Il Mare" (original 2000 Korean version of "The Lake House") then you won't be disappointed here.
4 out of 4 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed