Downsizing is a science-fiction comedy-drama, which is distributed in cinemas by Paramount, following its premiere at the 2017 Venice International Film Fesitval. As part of the scientific community’s means of trying to protect the environment, a new process called Downsizing is created, a process in which humans are shrunk to five inches tall and live in far more prosperous communities. Paul (Matt Damon) and Audrey (Kristen Wiig) Safranek decide to undergo the process, but Audrey bottles it at the very last second, while Paul is shrunk, leading to their divorce. Within the new community, Paul later meets Vietnamese activist Ngoc Lan Tran (Hong Chau), who helps him change his perspective on life.
PROS
- Director Alexander Payne has a lot of fun playing with senses of scale with this film, and executes the depiction of the downsized community reasonably well.
- A decent enough turn from Matt Damon, while Christoph Waltz really steals his scenes as Serbian partyboy Dušan.
CONS
- Co-screenwriters Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor touch upon many social and political issues, as well as serious themes, at a very surface level depth, and often are cavalier, and at times can be heavy-handed.
- An altogether weak cast, who are given some pretty thinly drawn characters, several of whom are lazy, racist stereotypes – but none more so than Ngoc Lan Tran.
- A LOT of corners are cut in order to fully craft this vision of a process for shrinking mankind, which is especially disappointing when you think of how easily such a process can be created with special effects now.
- Clunky, frankly weak dialogue, which the cast come across as feeling awkward to be saying, and which simply does not flow well. The gags also fall completely flat as well.
VERDICT: 3/10
Pete Kirkpatrick's Reviews 