Downsizing Review
R: language including sexual references, some graphic nudity, and drug use.
Paramount Pictures
2 Hrs and 15 Minutes
Dir: Alexander Payne | Writer: Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor
Cast: Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Hong Chau, Kristen Wiig
INTRO: Alexander Payne has been known for a long list of fantastic work that I personally put up as some of my favorite films. We all talk about “Sideways” and “The Descendants,” but what about “Election” or “Nebraska?” All four films he and longtime writing partner, Jim Taylor has crafted some of the best films of those films given years. Whenever Payne comes out with a new film, I am overly ecstatic to see what new concept he and Taylor conjured up. Now we have “Downsizing” which has to be the most creative film from Payne and Taylor and yet…..its the worst film they’ve ever done.
"Downsizing" follows a kindly occupational therapist who undergoes a new procedure to be shrunken to four inches tall so that he and his wife can help save the planet and afford a nice lifestyle at the same time.
THE GOOD
START OFF SMALL AND STRONG --
The first thirty minutes is amazing where we are introduced to Paul (Damon) and his wife Audrey (Wiig) who are struggling to move and in desperate need to do so because neither of them are happy. The form of communication that is present when one reveals they are going to Downsize himself is clever for people to start acting as if they are dying or retiring. Because this is a permanent process, it makes sense to have people behave this way.
The film It opens incredibly strong as it starts showing how Downsizing became a scientific breakthrough and over the years it becomes a trend as a means to become happier and restarting life. Payne goes out of his way to developing a world with its own rules and how contrasts to the one we live in especially with the way it deals with money, real estate, and lifestyle. The way how they present Downsizing is the equivalent to an early retirement that is way too good to be true.
The sequence of how Paul undergoes the process of Downsizing where they treat it like a hospital appointment has to be one of the most innovative scenes I’ve ever seen all year. It's so damn creative on par with anything you would expect from a film from Pixar. I don’t want to explain how the scene plays out but its the ultimate highlight of the film and it's a mesmerizing experience that makes you curious onto what was the inspiration that went into creating that sequence.
THE BAD
-- AND THEN FALL FLAT ON YOUR FACE
For a movie that markets itself as a man’s journey to self-discovery, the film needs a journey to find itself because after the first thirty minutes it has no idea with what it wants to be. Whatever creativity the film displays in the first thirty minutes completely fades away right when Matt Damon’s Paul becomes five inches tall. By that point, the story just becomes confused with what it's trying to tell. If I was to describe this in Malick terms, the movie starts off as strong as "Into the Badlands" but soon after its first act, it becomes "Knight of Cups." It never ceases to be entertaining for the comedy is the main thing holding your interest, but it just becomes a wasted potential of a story.
There are three stories this movie is trying to tell. You have the shrinking down and discovering a new world concept; Then you have the story of a man who has to adapt to new life; And lastly, it wants to be this humanitarian story about doing the right things for others.
IF THAT'S NOT ENOUGH, the film has two undertones that want to be a social commentary dealing with political issues such as sizeism, existentialism, and environmentalism.
The worst part of it all is that it fails to hit any of the beats it's aiming towards for Payne/Taylor try to tackle way too many threads that it becomes incredibly scattershot. If the film focused on Paul dealing with his size and having to interact with people who are biased against smaller people, then you would have a structure of an active story. Whenever it hit on that in the first thirty minutes where people would discriminate against others who Downsize because money translates to a much higher wealth, it makes some intellectually valid points that make for thought-provoking commentary. It benefits this fictionalized world being realistic. But no, this wanted to be a story about this and that and this and that.
At first, you get to like Paul and once he does become small and his wife doesn't follow through with their plan, you sympathize for him. But its until a little bit after you realize that he's a loser. No wait, he's a little bitch. It's odd because he's supposed to be a therapist who is supposed to help others, but yet he can't help himself to make the right decisions. Paul is a little bitch in the big world only to be a little bitch in the small world, and the only thing that's keeping him sane is a Vietnamese woman named Ngoc Lan Tran played by Hong Chau who is the best thing about this movie besides the first thirty minutes.
The reason why Chau’s character is the best thing about “Downsizing” is not only because the majority of the comedy comes from her but its primarily because she is the emotional core of the movie. Whatever plot comes to fruition from the second half of this film, it roots from her. Granted she has the very stereotypical voice of an Asian character that bears a resemblance to Alex Borstein’s infamous role of Ms. Swan on "MadTv," her character is amazing. For an actress who is relatively new to the scene, Chau knows how to control the focus of a scene. While every other actor is practically going through the motions, Chau is acting her ass off with exuberant charisma throughout. Her character Ngoc Lan Tran is fierce and fearless to speak whatever comes to mind. For the majority of the film, she has Paul on a leash, and you root for her every moment she expresses herself. She does not take no for an answer. If she says for you to jump and you question what, she will keep saying jump until you give in and say how high?
WALTZ THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?
Can somebody tell Christoph Waltz that he is in the wrong movie because he is putting on a weird French accent that is God awful? Oh yeah, Austrian actor Christoph Waltz as a Euro-trash Frenchman. Dude, I know you want to tackle on different accents as any actor would, but this was the wrong movie to test it on. Initially, this was role was intended for Sacha Baron Cohen and believe it or not I would prefer that. Cohen has the capability of doing eccentric European accents, but Waltz really does not outside of his native one. The accent he puts on is entirely terrible mainly because he is trying way too goddamn hard to sound French. You can hear the clear Austrian accent through every line of dialogue. It's like a Caribbean guy with a thick accent was desperately trying to take on an American accent but can't shake it off.
SHORT SIZES, LONG RUN TIME
When it comes to the comedy, its very funny and the writing has a ton of wit where it strikes the right tone. But if you’re going to not tell an impactful story and waste a clever concept, that's fine, but there is NO REASON THIS NEEDS TO BE 2 HRS AND 15 GODDAMN MINUTES LONG! When a movie surpasses a two hr running time, it has to be the intention of delivering a story that is epic. This is a story in desperate need of finding a story and trying to be deep and philosophical themes such as the meaning of life, but by the time it ends it just comes out as being pretentious.
Initially, I was going to end this with saying if you want to watch a fun shrinking comedy, I would go watch “Ant-Man” or even that “Rick & Morty” episode entitled “The Ricks Must Be Crazy,” but when I was describing this movie to a friend of mine, she said, Sounds like “Horton Hears a Who” really hit home the idea of existentialism better than this then. And you know what? She’s 100% correct. If you want to watch a creative movie about the social differences of people and their sizes and the philosophical theme of existentialism, go watch “Horton Hears a Who.” It may be animated and based on a Dr. Suess childrens book, but hey, it knows the message it tries to tell and does an excellent job doing it.
LAST STATEMENT
For what its worth “Downsizing” has one of the best first acts of the year but every moment after Matt Damon shrinks down to size, the film becomes a desperate attempt to tell a story that wants to be larger than life but ends up becoming smaller in stature. How did something with such a great concept from a great writer/director fail on every level it wanted its story to be? It is a mystery I cannot comprehend.
Rating: 2/5 | 43%
Super Scene: The process of Downsizing.
