“Downsizing”– Movie Review

This week, I attended a New York Times Film Club screening of the new science-fiction comedy, “Downsizing”, starring Matt Damon. 

Synopsis

When a man decides to undergo a procedure to shrink himself in order to lead a better life, can he resurrect his life after he discovers he’s made a bad choice?

Story

Paul (Damon) and his wife Audrey (Kristen Wiig) decide to seize on an opportunity to improve their standing in a most unusual way:  they will be shrunken down to a size of five inches in order to save their money and save the planet.  They rationalize their decision by being sold on the idea that since they will be taking up less space, spending less money and consuming fewer goods overall, they will be doing something noble – something ecologically sound given the impending dangers of climate change.  All around, a win-win for everyone, right?

Of course, the plan goes awry when Paul, after undergoing the irreversible procedure himself, discovers that Audrey got cold feet in the end and backed out.  She chooses to go back to her regular life while Paul has to move forward in his miniature state; eventually, they divorce, leaving Paul alone to live in a village full of other people who have similarly been reduced in size.  Depressed, lonely and without friends, he feels he’s made the worst decision of his life and now must deal with his choice.  This wasn’t the way things were supposed to go at all. 

Paul’s crazy neighbor Dusan (Christoph Waltz) winds up introducing him to Ngoc (Hong Chau), an infamous Vietnamese political refugee who was shrunken down and escaped her country by fitting inside an electronics box that was shipped to America.  Dusan offers Paul an opportunity to travel to Norway to visit the original colony where the first “downsized” people live – he agrees, but Ngoc insinuates herself into the trip, against their wishes.  While there, the villagers inform them that they’re heading off to an underground world they’ve created to escape the imminent destruction of the planet – with polar ice caps breaking off, increased amounts of methane are released in the air.  The townspeople invite Paul to join them, but since he has developed a romantic relationship with Ngoc, this would mean leaving her.  Will Paul abandon the woman he loves in order to fulfill a greater destiny to re-populate the planet?  

Review

Keeping in mind the saying, “Go big or go home”, “Downsizing” should have gone home.  It is hard to remember a more disappointing movie by Alexander Payne.  After so many terrific films to his credit, fans must begin to wonder if he’s just too erratic; Payne’s motion pictures seem to lack consistency in their quality.  In fact, perhaps the only consistency is his fascination with his home of Nebraska.  What may be the heart of the problem here is the fact that “Downsizing” can’t decide whether it wants to be a comedy or a science-fiction story, so it tries to fob itself off as both and fails miserably. 

The movie is a little over two hours long, but it feels much longer due to the fact that it is all over the place.  There are so many stories and characters, it’s easy to get confused.  The audience should be able to grasp the main thrust of the story and become emotionally invested in it in order for the film to work.  Too many times, however, you find you’re asking yourself, “Exactly what is the story here that I’m supposed to be following?”.  While attempting to be a fable about climate change and its impact on humans, it ultimately winds up being nothing more than patronizing in its pedagogy. 

“Downsizing” is a largely depressing story, so it begs the question as to why it was given a holiday release.  Being preached to about the effects of climate change is not exactly the material that forms a good basis for a comedy, much less a source for Christmas cheer.  It hardly fills you with good will toward men; the opposite, in fact – it reminds you just how truly lousy humankind is.  This is either the feel-bad movie of the year or the feel-confused movie of the year – it’s unclear as to which.  And maybe that’s because the film itself lacks clarity.