Downsizing (2017)

[butterbody]

I wish I had read the reviews of this horrible movie before I wasted all the time and money! 

Matt Damon is at his most bland, much of what was shown in the trailer was not even in the movie, and it was so, so LONG. 

It started off fine, but then it just went in all these different, pointless directions. There also seemed to be lines of foreshadowing, like when the scientist said shrinking was harmless except to shellfish, that never went anywhere. 

Then there's this bit about how you can't get certain things in small world, like an herb he couldn't get to cook with, and there's a flower shop that sells full sized roses and everyone is like omg a rose! But I kept thinking, if the government is offering incentives to downsize, could they not provide the things they needed? It would have just been too easy to slap a GI Joe foot on Ngoc after he broke hers. 

People were walking out, looking at their phones, yelling at the screen. . It was truly the worst movie I have ever seen, and I think I just figured out what kind of fuck it gave me. Sorry to be crass, but if that bothers you, definitely avoid this crapfest. And don't even get me started on all the weiners!

Edited January 3, 2018 by Athena
Added year and removed spoiler tag

[Ohwell]

Wow, but thanks for the review.  I'll save my money. ; )

[SmithW6079]

I was intrigued by the concept, so I'm disappointed to hear the movie was terrible.

[frogzapper]

I think the main reason that this movie is getting such low audience scores is that the trailer is a little misleading, in my opinion.

If you think the movie is going to show a lot of amusing juxtapositions between the small and normal sized worlds, then you're going to be disappointed after about the first hour of the movie, because once the movie moves into the small world it pretty much stays there and very little is shown regarding the contrast with the normal sized world, so as a result everything just looks kind of normal from that point on. 

The movie has several funny scenes, but overall it has a more serious tone than I was expecting. If you're in the mood to see subject matter like poverty and health-care issues and global warming, then this might be the right thought-provoking movie for you. But if you just want light entertainment, then it will probably be a disappointment. I was kind of disappointed that it didn't show more of the interaction between the small and normal sized worlds - like how food, medicine, housing, equipment (cars, machines, etc.) and other supplies were created and provided to the small world. Did the small communities manufacture most of that stuff themselves? I could see them growing some of their own food perhaps, but a lot of other things seem like they would be a very large undertaking (no pun intended) for the small communities to be able to do on their own. Maybe more of this was explained and I just missed it. As for the global warming stuff, it seemed like the movie should have shown how the large world was dealing with the issue, not just the small world since one of the main motivations for downsizing was supposed to be to save the planet. It's just mentioned very quickly in passing that not enough of the large population has downsized to save the planet. And personally, I found the original Norwegian community in the latter part of the movie a little bit creepy and depressing. 

If you're a Jason Sudekis fan, then don't even bother - I think he was in the movie for all of about 5 minutes.

I agree that Matt Damon isn't at his most charismatic in this movie, but I think that was understandable given the emotions his character was going through adjusting to the small world.

I had rather modest expectations going in given the few reviews I had read, so while it definitely wasn't one of my favorite movies of 2017, I didn't think it was that bad either. It did feel a bit too long though - I think 20 minutes or more could have easily been cut out of it.

Edited January 3, 2018 by frogzapper
Just some clarification.

[methodwriter85]

I definitely agree that this suffered from a very misleading trailer. It seemed to promise a light, fluffy film instead of a drama about class and race.

One touch I did like- the people just on the outeredeges of Leisureland seemed to live in very pretty California mission style houses that would be upper-middle class in real life, but are just outside of the slums in Leisureland.

Quote

And personally, I found the original Norwegian community in the latter part of the movie a little bit creepy and depressing. 

Christoph Waltz's character seemed to agree with you. I think he's dead-on that they're all going to wind up killing each other down there, not breeding successive generations of new small humans.

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 1/3/2018 at 0:04 PM, methodwriter85 said:

I definitely agree that this suffered from a very misleading trailer. It seemed to promise a light, fluffy film instead of a drama about class and race.

I wonder if people who don't like Downsizing like other Alexander Payne movies, but not this one.  I like the way he directs movies (as well as his writing), and in fact saw this one primarily because he directed it.  But I don't consider him a mainstream director, and he may not appeal to very wide audiences, even though this movie was certainly marketed to them.

[butterbody]

Election is one of my favorite movies ever, and I enjoyed Sideways and About Schmidt. Not sure what else he did but those are all amazing movies.

I guess it bugs me because the trailer painted a far different picture, and if that's the type of movie they were going to present, that's what they should have delivered. I'll admit, I was lured in by the giant cracker and the vodka bit. I was expecting more of an Incredible Shrinking Woman thing. If I had known it was going to be so heavy I might not have been so disappointed. 

[DrSpaceman73]

I agree about the trailer being misleading, but I think the casing as well made me believe this would be more of a comedy and less dramatic. 

You put Kristen Wiig and Jason Sudeikis in it, that expectation is set. 

Plus I think some of the stuff have been attempts at dark humor that fell flat. 

[Yokosmom]

I saw it this weekend.  Agree that it was totally mis-marketed, as I thought that it would be a dark comedy.  Well, it was in spots, but it certainly wasn't what I expected.  That said, I don't think that it sucked at all.  I liked the nutso Eurotrash neighbor, the Vietnamese love interest, the scenery in Norway....

[scrb]

Saw it on a flight, because of Alexander Payne.

I don't know how it was being marketed but with the cast, I would have figured a lot of comic hijinks, though I didn't recognize Wiig at first.

They really don't draw out Damon's character until the high school reunion, where they meet little Sudekis' character.  He wanted to be a surgeon but had to move back home to take care of his mother and his wife wanted a nicer lifestyle than he could provide.

He'd been on cruise control kind of, taking care of his mother but not really questioning things.  He didn't do it for environmental reasons but to have a better standard of living for himself and his wife, who was skeptical.

After being abandoned, he was drifting until he met the Vietnamese woman, who was all about taking care of others and making the best of her own situation.  I liked that he helped her help the other poor, without complaining.  The slums area made me kind of think of places like Dubai, where they import workers from developing countries like the Philippines and basically become indentured servants.  But in Leisureland, the rich were kinder, willing to share leftover food and other supplies with the workers.

There are no hijinks unless he fell in with the Eurotrash neighbor and partied all the time.  Guess it's a modest story about a guy who finds some happiness in the end and it doesn't involve living in relative luxury.

[jumper sage]

On 1/3/2018 at 11:39 AM, butterbody said:

I wish I had read the reviews of this horrible movie before I wasted all the time and money!

I waited and got the movie free at the library.  When it's free you do have a different way of gaging a movie.

On 1/22/2018 at 9:45 AM, Yokosmom said:

the scenery in Norway....

Spectacular!

On 1/3/2018 at 3:04 PM, methodwriter85 said:

Quote

And personally, I found the original Norwegian community in the latter part of the movie a little bit creepy and depressing. 

Christoph Waltz's character seemed to agree with you. I think he's dead-on that they're all going to wind up killing each other down there, not breeding successive generations of new small humans.

I thought that was spot on.  To me the Norwegian community seemed like they were hippiesh and unwashed.

On 1/3/2018 at 1:37 PM, SmithW6079 said:

I was intrigued by the concept, so I'm disappointed to hear the movie was terrible.

If you can get it for free through streaming or the library then I would give it a chance.  It was certainly thought provoking.  My complaint is that they went to 5 inches.  They had to live in a covered community because even a bug could take them out.  All my nightmares right there.  I also liked, I hesitantly say, the way they described dissidents being downsized as a punishment and then not given a way to live like a covered community.  I also liked how they showed Americans and Europeans as living a higher standard of life but never shown what happens if you lose half your money, like the main character, or if you are sent there.  Same old, same old with have and have nots.

My favorite line is about the first baby and when he was a teen he was just cruising around the world screwing men, women and animals.

Edited April 26, 2018 by jumper sage

[Token]

I loved this movie.  I can't believe that it has any bad reviews.  This is the best movie I've seen in a long time.  Sorry there's no bombs or CGI special effects or super heroes to keep you entertained and amused.  It involved thinking.  Loved it!

[rmontro]

Saw this today finally, I remember seeing the trailer in the theater.  Wow, I just have to say, that was not what I was expecting.  I thought it would be maybe a comedy (after all, it had Kristen Wiig and Jason Sudeikis) or maybe a light sci fi.  Instead, it was just kind of....  depressing.

To make matters worse, I saw there was going to be the sister from Atypical in this, and she was barely in a scene and didn't get a line.  She might as well have been a lamp.   Waste of talent.

That said, I didn't think it was horrible.  Not great, but not horrible.  I liked Ngoc Lan.

I would hate to have to get all my dental work extracted to have that procedure, but at least they were unconscious the whole time.

[JBC344]

An ok movie all around, but right that it was marketed terribly.  It should of stood on its own grounds as a drama and really sold that aspect.

One thing that was bugging me.  In the Norwegian colony at the final dinner when the Dr. shouted out Little Ronnie, and Ronnie stood up with what looked like an open red sore on his lip.  Was that some allusion to an abnormality or an STD (herpes)?  A call back to Christopher Waltz's character telling us how promiscuous he was?

[EtheltoTillie]

I finally watched this, on Netflix, today.  I had watched The Holdovers last week and loved it, and I was reminded that this was a Payne movie I’d never seen.  I’d avoided it because it had such an awful reputation. 
So yes, it probably would have to be considered his worst movie. It was very depressing and too long, so I agree with all those who said it was marketed wrong. I skipped vast stretches in the middle and watched the ending and was able to get the point. The way I watched, it was like a good Twilight Zone episode. 

Edited January 7 by EtheltoTillie

[snarktini]

On 3/1/2019 at 10:09 PM, JBC344 said:

 

One thing that was bugging me.  In the Norwegian colony at the final dinner when the Dr. shouted out Little Ronnie, and Ronnie stood up with what looked like an open red sore on his lip.  Was that some allusion to an abnormality or an STD (herpes)?  A call back to Christopher Waltz's character telling us how promiscuous he was?

 

That got a chuckle out of me! To me it was definitely herpes, because he was promiscuous

I didn't love or hate it -- it felt disjointed and needed an editor but it also made me think. It helps that I knew nothing at all about it until finding it on streaming, so I had zero advertising to mislead me.