by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent
For everybody who loved the DESCENDANTS with George Clooney, but thought it was too sad, or loved SIDEWAYS with Paul Giamatt but not that comedic mean streak of Alexander Payne, here comes something to really love.
It’s called DOWNSIZING from Paramount, directed by Payne and co-written with Jim Taylor. This new comedy stars Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Kristen Wiig and Hong Chau from INHERENT VICE.
If it sounds like “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids,” it’s not. Actually everything gets fractionalized here. The tagline is “a big world is waiting.”
Unlike Jonathan Swift’s “Modest Proposal” this is a more practical approach to world over-population. Imagine everything at 5 inches to say 72 inch scale, or way smaller than you are right now.
But don’t get lost in the math or dubious physics of this movie, because the miniaturized world looks spectacular. And it’s a fantastic alternative to Agenda 21, the alleged United Nations plan for depopulating the earth. (What? Google it up. Scary.)
But First a Tiny Peak at DOWNSIZING
Meanwhile, it’s a small world after all in Alexander Payne’s brilliant rendition of what happens when big ideas turn regular-sized people into scale-model minds on a grand tableau.
DOWNSIZING just unspooled this week at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), plus these photos prove the great cast chemistry.
Paramount’s Official Small Print on This Movie
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 (Matt Damon) and wife Audrey (Kristen Wiig) decide to abandon their stressed lives in Omaha in order to get small and move to a new downsizedcommunity — a choice that triggers life-changing adventures.
A big world may be waiting, but everyone was their Actual Size at TIFF.
Directed by: Alexander Payne
Starring: Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Hong Chau and Kristen Wiig
Written by: Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor Produced by: Mark Johnson, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor
Facebook: /DownsizingFilm
Twitter: @DownsizingFilm Instagram: @Downsizing Website: DownsizingMovie.com
DOWNSIZING is in theaters December 22, “a big world is waiting.” See you in five inches. Hashtag? #Downsizing.
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