Downsizing Review

Lave watched "Downsizing" and now he's telling you what he thought about it. Matt Damon stars in Alexander Payne's new movie about shrinking and a whole bunch of other stuff in Downsizing. But is it any good?
DOWNSIZING - 2017 Movie Review
Director - Alexander Payne
Starring - Matt Damon, Kristen Wiig, Hong Chau, Christoph Waltz, Jason Sudeikis, Neil Patrick Harris, Laura Dern
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[@ilose21]

I was hoping to hear near the end of the film the hippies were found by a ant colony and never seen again

[@ReginVamp65]

Or a single cat 😂

[@reyntime1950]

I'm pretty sure i just watched the worst film ever made.

[@salj.5459]

Yes, it was so fucking boring and had almost no redeeming qualities

[@maranhazz]

By a great distance

[@meabdul3215]

Agreed

[@sheaulle]

I loved it. Did you watch the review?

[@sabrinaestrada3590]

I enjoyed it because it was thought provoking and gave me the feels. It was not what I thought it would be.

[@iwatched]

That's cool. Wasn't what I was expecting either! Thanks for watching my review and for commenting. Much appreciated!

[@heydiddlediddle_]

@sabrinaestrada3590 Me too. The trailer made it seem more like a finding yourself type of film, but then I watched it and it was different. I liked it.... lighthearted but also deep and sincere

[@erinm1218]

I actually loved this movie! Very fresh, unpredictable, funny scenes about modern capitalism... vs the Scandinavian utopia. I liked the device about the tunnels taking him to each new phase of life. Weird to me so many hated it... It wasn't cliche at all!

[@maxheadroom3839]

Staring Kristin Wigg are you sure 😊. It wasn't the film I thought it would be but I wasn't disappointed either. I thought it would be like a Honey I Shrunk The Kids comedy but it wasn't. I also think I am in love with Hong Chau she really tugged on my heart strings.

[@iwatched]

LoL yeah should'a said Kristen Wigg cameo.

[@whatyoudo9773]

wow! You really got a lot out of this film, you talk of this engaging story about the micro baby that grows up in the movie....who has like 3 scenes adding up to 30 seconds at most, and your laughing at how cool it was to watch this happen.....WTF? This movie was a train wreck.

[@iwatched]

Agree it’s not a huge part of the movie but it’s saying a lot about the youth of today. So I mentioned it... not like I dedicated the whole review to it.

[@whatyoudo9773]

ok, i just think they completely missed the mark if they were intending us to give a darn about the baby part, zero effort making that a meaningful thing, when i realized this guy made Sideways which was a mildly interesting and mostly depressing movie, i knew why this movie was strange. Thanks for the reply though, thats classy.

[@2011zbjr]

Whatyoudo that's what sequels or spin offs are for the told the story they wanted to tell although a bit sloppy it's a solid movie not groundbreaking or anything just decent

[@whatyoudo9773]

I guess if you would be willing to watch it again you could give it a "solid" rating, i cant though, the small part was the cool part and they did nothing with it.

[@Paul-se4qh]

I think this film is criminally underrated. It recontextualizes our world and poignantly allows us to see how repugnant this "system" can be. I also thought the film was hilarious, but certainly many sad moments. It certainly is quirky and takes some interesting turns, tonally, but if you just go with it, it's actually a clever and thought-provoking film.

[@iwatched]

Yeah I think the marketing of this film let it down but I sort of rolled with the punches when I saw it. Thanks for watching my review and for the awesome comment ✌🏻

[@erikapearce1801]

I just rewatched it for the first time since it came out and surprisingly really enjoyed it the second time! I remember being super confused and disappointed with the direction it took as the trailer had sold me on a very different movie. I only planned to watch the first half again but ended up really drawn in and was able to read into more of the nuances the second time. I found the juxtaposition of the American over consumption along side the poor people who do all the hard jobs really interesting. The cult part at the end made a lot more sense to me the second time too. A second watch made me completely change my mind on this film :)

[@leoniea.5620]

Thanks for this review. Luckily I had heard so much about how horrible this movie is supposed to be, that I knew before that they did´t manage to work this idea out the way most people wanted to see it. So, I went in with low expectations and really enjoyed it. Yes, Matt Damon is quiet a bland character, but somehow and with the help of his new friends he takes the right path eventually. Also I really enjoyed Christoph Waltz´s and Hong Chau´s character a lot. But I felt like the last part about the norwegian group of downsized settlers was pretty unnecessary, it nearly seems like they only made this journey to have a comparison to the american downsized community. If you can forgive the movie for partially being just like everyone could as well be normal-sized, the movie is quiet enjoyable. In the end the movie is telling two stories. The story of how downsizing came to be a new invention and some of it´s results. And the other story (which is defiantly the priority of the movie) is about a man, who because he decided to get downsized (and a series of unexpected events that I don´t want to spoil) needs to start a whole new life, and searches his place in this new world.

[@iwatched]

Thanks for watching and for the in-depth comment! Totally agree!

[@demosthenes6891]

One of the worst movies I've seen in the last 10 years.

[@iwatched]

Shame man. I thought it was alright even though the trailers were misleading. Out of interest what’s one your best?

[@demosthenes6891]

Minus the popcorn blockbuster stuff, I really liked Annihilation. I wish more people would have seen it.

[@nox5870]

Demos the NES Annihilation is so overlooked , will be a cult classic in the future for sure !

[@invictuscenturion8468]

Great idea for a movie, then it goes nowhere. Bland, boring, sad. The movie never decided what it wanted to tell us.

[@Menstral]

The movie was not good at all. Of course humans will make the same mistakes over and over, it is evolutionary biology. If the statement seems improbable then one does not know enough about evolutionary biology. Note that much of the consumption in the movie and life is driven by the desires of women or impressing women, which is human evolutionary biology.

[@Paul-se4qh]

I think you are conflating sociology and biology. The very idea off evolutionary biology is that species' genome mutates and evolves, thereby self-correcting any "mistake" that would make life difficult and/or impossible. In other words, from a purely biological perspective, if we were making the same mistakes over and over...we'd be extinct. The film is a social commentary on the social constructs of society that we created and will very likely be our downfall. I think the point of the film is that we actually can choose differently and yes, it would require some pretty big sacrifices (letting go of our big egos, being willing to live smaller/simpler) but in our hyper-narcissistic, cult-of-me society (replete with the zeitgeist of the self-aggrandizing and the selfie-obsessed) how many people are REALLY going to that? Hell, I was watching the film and I don't know if I could even do that and I consider myself a fairly socially and environmentally conscious person. I think that's the brilliance of this film, it's almost like Rorschach test. As much as we notice the things that are wrong with the system, not many of us would TRULY be willing to make the sacrifices necessary to correct that system and may ultimately be our species demise...and maybe that's actually okay...or maybe as a collective, we can choose something different. Who knows?

[@miguel77077]

I actually think the movie was great tbh ,it’s very open and I think they were looking for a variety of different approaches to the movie ,and people can actually identity or relate to the movie the way they want ,however I do think I see it as a movie that works on the development of the main character’s life, the last scene shows that he had a purpose and his purpose was to help people ,it wasn’t really a lot about the environment but more about helping people ,and I personally think that’s a great message to give to the world right now. It also has a lot of more quote on quote modern political issues ,and it’s great ,it doesn’t felt forced or pushed down your throat like the Barbie movie or other modern movies ,i think it was actually very well executed. Also as a Hispanic I absolutely love how they included my heritage and culture ,the shelters ,and the community living together and working for one another ,the scene where they’re watching Cantinflas or novelas ,it was great tbh ,it was a serious movie at some points but it was mostly a strange romantic comedy ,I think I’ll like it more the more I watch it but overall a very good movie

[@drewzilla282]

WHAT A TERRIBLE FILM!!!!! , what was HOng Chaus character all about?, just a terrible racist depication of a vietamse woman. Honestly one of teh worst films iv seen in a very long time 1/10

[@highroller-jq3ix]

Someon of actual Vietnamese descent seemed to feel differently about the character.

[@antonioochoa]

The movie had Jurassic Park vibes, with the tours and glass cages. A world that seems ideal, but with flaws. I liked the movie.

[@APOKOLYPES]

was a great film, I'm glad elitist film critics hated it, it just adds to the beauty of the satire

[@iwatched]

Yeah I think the marketing really let this one down. Definitely worth a watch! Thanks for checking out my review 🙏🏻✌🏻

[@andrewtilt]

I had no idea what to expect when I started this movie. During the first half, I thought it was going to be a kind of dull comedy. I was really enjoying it. Then as soon as the got on the boat and started all of the global warming stuff, it turned me off. I think the concept of downsizing was great, and would have enjoyed the whole movie around that. They tried to hard to have a message, and I think it ruined the movie. I would have liked it more if Matt Damon found his calling as a "doctor" in that community and we got to meet some more of those characters and stay in Leisure Land. Still would have accomplished mostly the same thing without the trip to Norway. I didn't like Hong Chau. She was kind of like the Jar Jar Binks of this movie. She was funny at first, but her accent and character was so annoying by the end. I'm not sorry I watched it, but I think it could have been a better movie. Really enjoyed your review. I will come back here for other reviews in the future.

[@iwatched]

Awesome thanks for watching dude and for the detailed comment! 🙏🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@thegreatflea143]

A very thoughtful review. Thank you for some positivity 😊

[@nox5870]

Hong Chau was amazing!!! Well earned Golden Globe Nom and I enjoyed Christopher Waltz in this as well 😂

[@iwatched]

Yeah she was great, really grew on me. What else has she been in?

[@nox5870]

She was also in Inherent Vice with Joaquin Phoenix and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson... but that is the only other movie she has been in. But she has 2 Upcoming movies coming out this year and in 2019 , don't know much about them but they are called : Duck Butter and Artemis Fowl ( I just know that Artemis Fowl will be directed by Kenneth Branagh who is an incredible Director and Actor , he recently directed a remake of Murder on the Orient Express ) .

[@sunflowerbadger]

I really enjoyed this film. I don't think every film needs to answer everything and tie up every loose end. I found the impact of it's big statements fun anyway, and it gave me tons to think about for hours after watching it. I totally loved most of the performances, and I really feel in love with the love story and the final message about acts of kindness in an apparently irredeemable world.

[@montanamike7948]

Awesome movie. Its an adventure story. Very cool concept.

[@Amazingsloth]

Nice review - well done.

[@iwatched]

Thanks for watching! Much appreciated!

[@iamnegan938]

Just saw it ...it should of been a straight up comedy

[@ErnieKings27]

You should have learnt better English

[@augustheat]

they did this because the end of the world was coming. methane gases in the northpole ice? did you miss that entire subplot? its an end of the world movie

[@slydale]

Someone here said it..."elitist film critics hated it". Bet ppl in the elite level doesn't want subjects free thinking this way. Maybe how many of us who would had seen this as a thought provoking flick totally missed it. Oh well. Think I'll give it a view now in 2023. I'll seek this one out.

[@Rambleon444]

WOW, I can't believe like this It is super horrible! It was another preachy movie from Hollywood. It was not funny at all. If you like the preachy speeches at the Oscars or the Golden Globes and you hate yourself you might like Downsizing.

[@davidguy209]

yours is the first review that i've seen that's at all positive. if i get the chance, i'll watch it. like the t-shirt!

[@highroller-jq3ix]

Your review offers some thoughtful perspectives. It doesn't seem that your video has had much traffic in the last four years, but I just saw "Downsizing" and was interested in reactions. It's built more like a novel than a conventional narrative film, which seems to be off-putting for many viewers.