Downsizing or Silverlining?
(spoiler alert! reading this review will potentially ruin the surprise element)
When you open a can of chili and find pork & beans, or in the case of the movie Downsizing, you open a can of corn to find corn, carrots & peas, you learn to expect the unexpected. I’ve seen movies like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and The Incredible Shrinking Woman¹, but Downsizing takes the cake for being other than anticipated.
Downsizing is about a couple who own a small home, have a modest income, and can’t enjoy the “finer things in life”. They agree to “downsize”, a new craze made possible by Norwegian-invented biochemistry allowing one to shrink to a fraction of one’s original size.
The couple, Paul & Audrey Safranek, well-played by Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig, plan to relocate to a downsize community where their small cash savings will represent a king’s ransom. Now they’ll be able to live as Audrey wanted and as Paul wanted for her.
There is some adversity at this point, which I won’t mention here, but it puts a great wrench and twist to things, and the characters lives are forever changed. I’d again have to say that I can’t recall seeing another film that took more of a left turn (for the better).
Sorry to warn of a spoiler alert and not tell the story, but to me, knowing a film’s book is not its cover, is often more of a spoiler than knowing some of the particulars. Suffice it to say that if you enjoy an offbeat tale of redemption, then Downsizing might be for you.
The main protagonists are excellent, but there are some supporting players who nearly steal the show; in fact, one of them is more of a lead. Christoph Waltz², the eccentric neighbor, whose friend, Joris Konrad (Udo Kier), plays well against, does a great turn as comic-cynic-subtle sentimentalist, Dusan Mirkovic.
Another great player, one of the best, is Hong Chau, as Ngoc Lan Tran, a woman whom Paul befriends and helps. Chau plays a character who’s full of delightful surprises and draws the heart & mind. I hope to see more of her.
Rolf Lassgård is likeable and effective as concerned Dr. Jorgen Asbjørnsen, full of quiet worry, and there are lots of small roles and cameos via Laura Dern, Jason Sudekis, Neil Patrick Harris, Margo Martindale and more. I missed Mary Kay Place’ scene to my dismay.
Downsizing did not fare well at the box office, grossing thirteen million less than its original budget, which was unexpected given director Alexander Payne‘s success as a filmmaker, so I hope his next outing is a smash.
This movie is a bit of a dark horse, but I often like the “little pictures”, as my late theater manager dad used to say.
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¹which is more of a wildcard than I’d thought, as well, particulary when seeing as a youth
²Waltz is a great talent whom I last saw as the latest iteration of Ernst Stavro Blofeld in SPECTRE, although I consider Skyfall the greatest Bond film to date. Sorry, I digress… more on Bond in a later blog.
