Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Downsizing*Spoiler Alert

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Downsizing*Spoiler Alert

    I went to see this on Wednesday. I thought it was one of the most engrossing films I've seen in an age.

    I was lucky in that I'd not seen any trailers and only knew about the basic premise .

    What I loved most was the sense of absolutely not knowing where the film was going. I've seen reviews that say it's like 3 different films bolted together, but to me the sense of not being sure about what type of film I was watching was intriguing.

    What did you think about the director's attitude to the group of people who were planning to go underground? I thought it was ambivalent and playful, and I couldn't decide if he was poking fun at their bearded cheesecloth idealism or supporting it.

    I think this is a deep, complex film that will be a slow burner.

    Anyone have thoughts on it?

    #2
    When I saw it I was deeply unimpressed. I expected to love it - I've liked all of Alexander Payne's other films, and the premise is great. And I actually like Matt Damon when he plays that dorky sort of character.

    ** Spoilery galore, of course **

    But it was just too fragmented - the first third of the film, where they're playing with the concept itself, was great. It was classic Payne, kind of funny and whimsical and entertaining, but reaching bit deeper than that.

    After that, though, it went totally off the rails. I'm one of those people who felt that Hong Chau's character was borderline racist. The plot points seemed to go nowhere. The whole thing seemed weird and directionless like nobody really knew what they wanted to do with the rest of it. You first think there's a story about the Shrunken Underclass who do all the chores, but suddenly the film loses that. Then there's the story about the importation of contraband for the small people, except that doesn't really happen. Then the story about environmental collapse, but the film holds back on it. Then it was a story about cults, and about technophobe agrarianism but even then it seemed to hold back that, too. There was a lot going on, but it just didn't seem to connect at all.

    Comment

    Working...
    X