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Jim Milton
Downsizing imagines what might happen if, as a solution to over-population, Norwegian scientists discover how to shrink humans to five inches tall and propose a 200-year global transition from big to small. People soon realize how much further money goes in a miniaturized world, and with the promise of a better life, everyman Paul Safranek (Damon) and wife Audrey (Wiig) decide to abandon their stressed lives in Omaha to get small and move to a new downsized community – a choice that triggers life-changing adventures.
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2017, 2160p with Dolby Vision, DTS-MA 7.1, Rated R, 2 hours and 15 minutes,
2.39:1 Aspect Ratio
Starring: Matt Damon, Kristen Wiig, Christoph Waltz, Udo Kier & Hong Chau
Directed By: Alexander Payne
Rating
Violence: No
Sex: Yes
Language: Yes
What a wasted opportunity! The movie starts out with a comedic premise of shrinking humans down to a point where they will have minimal impact on the environment. Of course, this is a metaphor for living on less for the good of the planet and a great way to stretch your dollars. The first half of the film runs with this idea, then it starts going down different paths like, helping your fellow man, saving the environment, living your life in the pursuit of altruism and by the last few minutes of the movie, giving it all up for love.
These are nice topics, but the movie never sticks to any of them for more than few minutes before shooting off into another direction. The whole last half of the movie plays out like a slightly whimsical drama with very little comedy involved. It starts out cleverly, then wanders. Too bad. The acting is great and even has a funny scene with Neil Patrick Harris, but alas, the laughter is too… little.
The picture quality is top drawer, with wonderful detail and immaculate contrasts. The colors are quite vivid, especially in the disc party montage with intense specular highlights and ink black night shots. The CGI is excellent as well with “little people” and regular folk occupying the same scenes in visual harmony. The sound is quite nice too, with plenty of surround effects and an occasional blast for the subwoofer. Shot in 3.4K and with a 2K DI, the picture still looks sharp without any evidence of aliasing or jaggy edges.
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Included are a BD version of the movie and: Working With Alexander, The Cast, A Visual Journey, A Matter of Perspective, That Smile and A Global Concern.