Movie: Downsizing

This Review Reveals Some Details About the Plot.

Down the Rabbit Hole

Plot Overview

At the Edvardsen Inst. in Bergen, Norway, Dr. Jorgen Asbjørnsen (Rolf Lassgård) has found a way to down­size rats in the lab (“Andreas, we have done it!”) Five years later at the Edvardsen Inst. in Istanbul, Turkey, standing five inches tall he gives a presentation on the evil of over­population. They propose trans­forming the world from big to small in the space of 200–300 years.

Some ten years later Omaha Steaks' in-house occupational therapist Paul Safranek (Matt Damon) and his wife Audrey (Kristen Wiig) are attending his Creighton Prep. School reunion when one of his former class­mates hypes “going small” as a means of multiplying relative wealth. Seeing this as a solution to their financial woes the couple signs up for a mansion at Leisure­land Estates “where the grass is greener,” and then they come in to be processed for “down­sizing” (“Welcome to the good life.”)

You'd never get me in there. It looks like a military induction done to the tune of “March of the Sugar Land Fairies.” The down­sized people are characterized as: “They're lazy. They become small to have the things that until now were only for the rich.” Any middle class bloke will find himself on Easy Street in this shrunken world. The poor who get down­sized, how­ever, are still poor; a thousand times nothing is nothing. However, the rich have their troubles, too.

Ideology

Diminutive Vietnamese housemaid Ngoc Lan Tran (Hong Chau) escaped her repressive regime by being smuggled out down­sized in a TV box. She was discovered half alive at a Target store in Eugene, Oregon. Eugene is where I live. The Target store on the other side of the free­way is in the same shopping center as the cineplex where the movie was shown. As I'm looking at the front of it on the big screen, I wonder, is the story in here? or is the story out there?

Reality check. The city of Eugene was founded by pioneer Eugene Skinner. Many a night I had dinner across from the Pioneer Museum in neighboring Spring­field. Then I'd travel north on Pioneer Park­way E., turn west on Centennial Bv.—so named during Oregon's Centennial in honor of our pioneers—cross on it to Centennial Bv. Eugene, then hop south over the Ferry St. Bridge—Negroes once operated a ferry there over the Willamette River—to end up in Skinner's Butte Park named after our founder. I felt I was connected to my history.

Then one day the NAACP in Portland, Oregon noticed Eugene didn't have any street named after MLK. Not knowing our history and seeing Centennial Bv. a major thorough­fare without many businesses on it, they proposed renaming it Martin Luther King Jr. Bv. Public input decried the desecration of our historical heritage. The City Council voted to delay renaming it until other options were considered. Our “diversity expert” threw a tantrum in chambers, saying, “God will judge you!” The council reversed itself and caved in to the renaming. The “diversity expert” returned to California, saying she knew how we felt. Now, I can't help but thinking that God has judged the matter, though probably not in the way she imagined.

That woman looked foolish for coming north to teach us a thing or two and then returning to her place when she saw how far we had to go. We are cautioned (Luke 14:31-32) about looking like a fool when starting projects we are not prepared to finish. This movie provides another good example of what can happen (“Are you ready to enter a new world, for there will be no turning back?”) when you haven't thought it all through. It's the big people there who are the movers and shakers driving the economy. The little folk are like pip­squeaks gazing up at larger than life statues of war heroes who made our good life possible. Lately, how­ever, people are tearing down statues as if they can't stand their own history (Luke 14:28-30.) We should wisely consider our course before we do some­thing major like: move to a new city, have our body mutilated or defaced, make love to a woman we hardly know, join a cult, or from the original context of those verses (Luke 14:26-27) as reflected in the movie (Luke 14:33), “We go church; pray Jesus.”

Production Values

This social satire, “” (2017), was directed by Alexander Payne. It stars Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, and Hong Chau. Damon's role was unable to bring out his fortes; he pretty much just reacted to what was going on around him. Hong Chau was a riot. The sets and scenery were terrific providing a strong balance to a silly plot.

MPAA rated it R for language including sexual references, some graphic nudity and drug use.

Review Conclusion w/ Christian Recommendation

As a satire it had its moments. As Sci-Fi the shrinking machinery was par excellence. As drama it excelled at pitting one set of loved ones against saving the whole planet. It's enjoy­able if you don't hold too many expectations for any single factor.

Movie Ratings

Action Factor: Weak action scenes Suitability For Children: Not Suitable for Children of Any Age Special effects: Well done special effects Video Occasion: Good Date Movie Suspense: Keeps you on the edge of your seat Overall product rating: three stars out of five.