Movie Review: Downsizing (2017)

Alexander Payne is one of my favorite directors working today. Unfortunately, this movie is not Sideways, Nebraska, or The Descendants. It has a bit of a satirical edge to it like his early work with Election and Citizen Ruth, but it isn’t as biting or as consistent, and it’s considerably less dry than most of Payne’s other work, which is superior.
The movie does do a solid job of presenting the process of downsizing as appealing to characters for two very different reasons — to save the environment, and to save money while still living luxuriously.

What’s kind of shocking about this movie, knowing Payne is behind the camera as director and also co-writer, is how not that clever it is. That’d be one of the first words I’d choose to describe his filmography. His comedies are not just clever for the way they are satirically with Election and Citizen Ruth, but for how they handle characters.
This movie has fairly generic characters, largely. The performances are nice enough, and I think Matt Damon does a pretty good job. But there isn’t much to these characters. For instance, a key moment involves Audrey Safranek (Kristen Wiig) deciding at the last minute not to go through with the procedure, and we’ve seen no real indication of any hesitation beforehand from her.
This eventually leads to a divorce, leaving Paul Safranek (Damon) a very Alexander Payne protagonist, feeling depressed and aimless. That begins to change when he meets Ngoc Lan Tran (Hong Chau), a Vietnamese activist who had been made small in prison against her will.

Hong Chau is really fantastic in her role, and she’s the best part of the movie.
What holds this movie back, though, is that it’s fairly directionless. It takes a lot of time to establish the world, which is fine, but there’s not really any kind of plot until about an hour and a half into it. It’s relatively funny, and relatively entertaining, but it’s not the most compelling movie because of that.
Rating: 6/10
