Subject: Re: DOWNSIZING (no spoilers)
In article <p1petc$9e8$1@dont-email.me>, Obveeus<Obveeus@aol.com>
wrote:
> DOWNSIZING: The 2017 film about people shrinking themselves in order to
> create a smaller footprint. Warning to those thinking about going:
> this is not sci-fi, so don't go thinking that this is FANTASTIC VOYAGE.
> Warning to those thinking about going: this is not an action and not
> particularly a comedy, so don't go expecting HONEY I SHRUNK THE KIDS.
> Mostly, this is a slice of life sort of tale for a guy in a bit of a
> midlife crisis. There is some social and environmental commentary here,
> but not so much that it does more than raise a few questions for people
> to think about. This isn't a great film, though it isn't bad, either.
> it is more intellectual than I was expecting...and all the better for it
> (even if that does limit its broader appeal). The most striking thing I
> came away with after seeing it was the opinion that Hong Chau pretty
> much stole the film. Without her raising the bar for the funny and for
> the touching and for the poignant, this film wouldn't have hit the
> target at all.
Was reading an Esquire article about Alexander Payne last night, turns
out he started on the screenplay for Downsizing a couple of years after
2004's Sideways came out (forgoing the usual tradition of a director
having another screenplay ready to go before his current movie even
comes out -- easier to get it greenlighted), but he made two other moves
(The Descendants and Nebraska) in the meantime before he finally
finished the script for Downsizing. This one's supposed to have him
showing a little more compassion about the characters than his previous
work.