BRING THE PAYNE
Matt Damon’s been in the news a lot recently concerning the Harvey Weinstein scandal. Now his name is coming up for more usual reasons: a new movie. This time, Damon (and the divine Kristen Wiig) are teaming up with noted director Alexander Payne (Election, Sideways and numerous others).
And there’s a twist. A big twist in a tiny way.
SIZE MATTERS
Here’s a hot take from Collider:
Paramount has released a new Downsizing trailer. Alexander Payneâs new film takes place where scientists have created a method of shrinking people to five inches tall, thus creating a new economy where a personâs financial worth goes much further. Matt Damon plays a financially strapped guy who decides to go small, but heâs left adrift after his wife (Kristen Wiig) bails once heâs had his procedure.
The trailer inadvertently highlights the movieâs biggest problem, which is that for all the satire Payne and co-writer Jim Taylor are able to squeeze into their admittedly clever premise, it always circles back to a story about a guy in the midst of a mid-life crisis. There are things in Downsizing that work incredibly well (the downsizing sequence is magnificent), but overall itâs a movie that never completely grasps the big social ideas like immigration and income inequality because it keeps coming back to Damonâs drip of a character.
HIDDEN FIGURE
…Whatâs somewhat surprising about this trailer is that it hides the filmâs strongest asset, Hong Chau. Granted, Chau isnât a big star for U.S. audiences, but she gets the filmâs best lines and ends up being the heart of the picture. If anything, Downsizing would probably be a much stronger film if it put her in the role of the protagonist rather than someone on Damonâs journey of self-discovery.
The film opens December 22nd and also stars Jason Sudeikis and Christoph Waltz.
Hmmm. Certainly could be interesting.
Here’s the trailer if you can’t wait until December: