Downsizing

     The trailer for this new film is very deceptive. It is edited to look like a comedy and it most certainly is not. It even includes sight gags only found in the trailer. The beginning has some amusing bits but it turns rather quickly into a completely different film.   

          Co-written and directed by Alexander Payne, the film is filled with big ideas that, unfortunately, are also downsized along with its cast. Social class injustice and the environment are heady subjects and the film gets rather dramatic and preachy once our protagonist, Paul (played by Matt Damon) meets Ngoc Lan (played by Hong Chau). It flirts with these subjects and ideas but comes away empty and you feel unfulfilled. Discussing the film's ideas afterwards will probably be more enjoyable than the film itself.

          Mr. Damon is excellent as an average guy looking for a better life. Kristen Wiig is his wife who disappears early from the film. Co-starring are Jason Sudeikis as a downsized friend who also disappears from the film fairly quickly and Christoph Waltz as Paul's strange downsized neighbor who completed the downsizing process for profit. It's a good cast in a very disappointing film.

             If Mr. Payne had downsized the film (it runs over two hours) and explored his ideas more thoroughly, I may have enjoyed it. As it stands, I actually left the theatre angry about being conned by a good director and a charming actor.