Can I get a normal-sized beer for a normal-sized guy? (Downsizing 2018)

177.

Downsizing 

 

 

 

 

6/10

 

 

 

Since watching Suburbicon, I'm a little apprehensive when it comes to watching another Matt Damon film to soon. I'm hoping that movie was down to Clooney, rather than anyone else. I've seen plenty of this movie's trailers and it seems a very interesting concept, with people wanting to shrink themselves down, in order to have a better life. Damon's character can be seen in the trailer, going through a bit of turmoil, as his wife decides to back out of the 'treatment'. Let's take a look and put this one under a microscope, hoping that it will be larger than life.

The film begins in Norway, as a doctor is performing an experiment on a lab mouse. He sees on mouse and suddenly cannot hide his joy, as he runs to meet his colleague, telling him the news and both of them hug in celebration. Obviously, this guy has found the shrinking technique. Five years on and one of these men, Andreas, is speaking to a group of people about the worries of overpopulation. He explains how him and Jorgen, they guy who found the technique, have both found a solution, leading to Jorgen being revealed and the followed up by a group of scientists and their family being revealed to the audience. They are all 5 inches tall and over an extended period of time, they have only filled one bag of waste between them. One couple have even had a baby, Ronnie, who is the first to be born small. This is watched by people all around the world, including Paul, Matt Damon's character. He runs home after work to see to his ill mother, thinking about what he has witnessed. He seems to have a small house and no free time.

Ten years now pass, Paul's mother has passed away and he is now married to Audrey, played by Kristen Wiig. They still live in the same house and at a high school reunion, he sees a couple that they used to be friends with, who have now gone small. Dave and Carol, the small couple, chat about how amazing their life is now and how much their money got them. They live in a small community called Leisureland. Paul and Audrey end up at a seminar about going small, living at Leisureland and the positives about such a change. The audience seem to have all been swayed. The couple we have been following, head back home to a phone call about their mortgage being denied and this is the final straw to the couple wanting to go small. We can already see a look of doubt on Audrey's face. Their friends end up throwing them a party, maybe as a farewell, but in the bar, a drunk is offensive towards small people, claiming that they have better benefits than normal people, with the fact that they don't contribute to society in the same way, which is pretty spot on. As time passes, the two fly out to the facility, ready for the downsizing. They got through questioning and still, they seem pretty calm about it. Paul is shaved all over his body, with his false teeth being removed and body waste being sucked out. He later wakes as a nurse presents him with a massive cracker, just to wind him up. He asks for his wife and the nurse, instead, brings him a phone and on the other end is Audrey. She reveals that she has shit out of the change and she is sorry. She wasn't ready to leave her family and life behind. He's clearly furious, shouting at her but she doesn't really give a great answer to his troubles.

He is take to his mansion, where he is still depressed and sits down to watch the news, seeing a story about Vietnamese activists, who were shrunk against their will, with only one surviving and being taken to hospital for a leg amputation. Ngoc Lan, played by Hong Chau, is now also small without anyone else. This film jumps once again. This time by a year and Paul is signing the divorce papers, as he heads back to his job at a telemarketing company, instead of living off his riches. He attends his friend's party, as Dave tries to cheer him up. He does admit that he has been dating someone and we instantly meet her. They are having dinner at his apartment as a neighbour above has a party which is a bit too loud. Dusan, the neighbour played by Christophe Waltz, comes downstairs to invite the couple to the party, to which Paul declines and gets back to his date. When he sees the new woman out, he offers to meet her son, to which she is hesitant and instead of being understanding, he just walks off and leaves her. He heads upstairs to the party, drinks, gets slipped a drug on the dance floor, meets a now grown-up Ronnie and passes out. Waking up on the floor to the cleaning crew, he recognises one of the cleaners as Ngoc Lan. He approaches her to sort out her dodgy fake leg, as he was an occupational therapist before being made small. After doing so, she forces him to come back with him to help a woman in need. She is pretty persistent and with the struggle of the English language, everything seems to be shouted at him.

She takes him to where the poor live on the outskirts. There, she tends to the needy and she takes Paul to Gladys, who has cancer and not long left. Her husband died during the shrinking process and she has clearly been dealt a bad hand. Paul gives them something to take for the pain and explains to Ngoc about turning her on her side to stop any bed sores. Paul then tries to fix Ngoc's leg for good, only to break her prosthetic. As a result of this, he must now help her with her job, her errands for everyone else and when they get to clean Dusan's, the man offers him a job to get away, to the first community in Norway. Ngoc wants to go with them and despite Dusan saying no, she reveals how her and the scientist Jorgen used to write letters to each other, as he felt sorry for what happened to her. These brings a bit of comedy as the three men, who are discussing the moves, as hiding the fact that they are moved to tears by her story. Off she goes. The arrive in Norway and travel a fjord to meet Jorgen and his wife. On the boat, Paul and Njoc end up climbing into bed together and the next morning Dusan can tell that the two got 'jiggy with it'. When they finally get to the scientist, it isn't long before he gives more bad news about the world. Due to so much Methane being emitted, humanity is near extinction. He and his first small community, have created a vault to preserve humanity and all crops and animals. Paul is soon swayed to join them, thinking that is a great thing, joining this bunch of hippies to watch their last sunrise together but Dusan and Ngoc want no part of it. She wants him to go back home with her and for them to live together. Instead, he enters the tunnels with his luggage, as the community get ready for a 17-mile walk, deep into the mountain. Paul says his goodbyes and just as the walk begins, he turns back to the door and in obvious fashion, runs back, just in time to escape the vault. A bit more humour comes as an explosion goes off, sealing the vault door but it's pretty much a firecracker and a little rock dropping down. The film ends with Paul and Ngoc back at Leisureland's slums, helping everyone with their day and a look on Paul's face that tells the audience that he is finally happy.  
After not expecting too much from this interesting concept for a movie, it actually turned out to not be half bad. You would have to go into this movie with an open mind and not take it too seriously and with that mind set, you can enjoy it and notice the humour, which at times, could even be taking the piss out of its own ideas about the movie. On the other hand, the trailer can be pretty deceiving. If you came in thinking that you would learn of the effects of being downsized, or to see the struggles this would bring, even seeing them being 5 inches and being chased by a rodent, you were wrong. This movie opened up with that, but the second half of the movie seemed a completely different direction, with nothing more than normal life problems becoming the main topic. I did expect goofball and got a lot more serious topics than I had imagined. With saying that, the movie was still enjoyable for that. The Asian character's shouting did becoming annoying after 5 minutes and I was surprised that we see as little of Kristen Wiig as we did. The storyline, if you were being serious about it, seemed a little empty towards the end and when the ending did actually come, it seemed as empty as the last 45 minutes of the movie. Damon and Wiig could have made a funny movie together, but this chance had been wasted.