Downsizing

Starring: Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Hong Chau, Kristen Wiig, Rolf Lassgard, Jason Sudeikis, James Van Der Beek, Neil Patrick Harris, Laura Dern, Margo Martindale, Niecy Nash
Directed by: Alexander Payne
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Science Fiction
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A man (Matt Damon) undergoes a procedure to shrink himself to five inches tall with the promise of a better life. He soon discovers that "downsizing" may not entirely be the dream life he expected.

Review:

Tim: I suppose Alexander Payne played with some thought-provoking ideas with Downsizing. I admit I was intrigued by the idea that humans could shrink themselves down to five inches tall. What would that mean for those people? Resources would be significantly more abundant, so theoretically, everyone could have more. The film follows this idea, plus the concept of what would happen if some of humanity shrunk themselves, while others didn't. What would this mean for both groups of people? What would it mean for humanity as a whole? I appreciated these aspects of Payne's unexpected, original film.

The problem is that interesting ideas don't make a good movie by themselves. This is where Downsizing falls apart. Payne's execution of these ideas is greatly lacking. This movie was presented as a comedy but it's really not very funny. It's actually a drama, but it's hard to care about any of the characters. The script has a few unexpected twists and turns, which is essential because those are the only things that manage to pull your attention back. The movie might have some nice moments, but as a whole, it's a slog to get through this stupidly long (2 hours and 15 minutes) movie. There's nothing here all that compelling. This is a movie I'll certainly never watch again.

I'm really not sure where Payne thought this film would go. It feels like a disjointed, odd path he lays out for the characters. The promises of exploring these big, crazy ideas is never fully realized. We follow Matt Damon's character as he is shrunk and moves to Leisureland in New Mexico, befriends a Vietnamese activist, and then eventually ends up in Norway as the fate of all humanity hangs in the balance. Payne might have had a clear vision for this film (I kind of doubt that, but maybe) but if he did, it doesn't translate into this film. It's quite simply a mess of a movie that meanders around and ultimately wastes the audience's time.

I've always felt like Payne is all over the map as a director. I really enjoyed The Descendants and Nebraska, Sideways is a good movie with classic moments. About Schmidt and Election are both huge misses. I'd put Downsizing at an About Schmidt level, which isn't very good. Payne has these original, unexpected approaches to his films, but they don't always work out. This film possesses some truly remarkable ideas, but the execution is a failure.

Now, I appreciate that Matt Damon really did give a lot of effort to his role. You could tell he wanted to make this movie work. It doesn't, but that's due to Payne and his script. Damon tried, but he didn't succeed. I love Christoph Waltz, but it felt like he was wasted here. He makes a surprisingly minimal impact on the film. Hong Chau was a pleasant surprise- she gives this odd, unexpected performance that sticks with you. I can't say I liked her character, but I was slightly mesmerized by her performance. She's the most memorable part of the film. Kristen Wiig doesn't have much to do, although she makes a big impact in one of the film's most important scenes. It certainly felt like overall, Payne wasn't able to draw the best out of his cast.

Downsizing took some ambitious ideas but botched the landing. I'm glad I saw the movie, but I certainly didn't enjoy it and won't ever watch it again.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: About Schmidt, Election, Nebraska