Downsizing - Film

Downsizing - Film

 

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 Downsizing - Film

Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist

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Downsizing

Putting Small Things Into Perspective

 

      When one thinks of Matt Damon the image of violence, thrills and butt kicking immediately comes to mind. In his latest movie “Downsizing,” Damon plays Paul Safranek, a man who is in over his head financially. While at a reunion party Paul encounters a friend, who has been shrinked down to five inches tall. This is the result of a new technology where people are physically shrinked and then they can live in a miniature city where everything is so cheap, they can live like millionaires.

     Having his nose up against the grind rock; living like a millionaire sounds very appealing to Paul so he goes for it. As you can expect however, things don’t turn out the way they should and the drama is on.

Paul (Damon) is talked into downsizing by his buddy Dusan (Mirkovic)

     Due to a family emergency Matt Damon could not attend the press conference but the rest of the main cast were present. This included Kristian Wiig (Audrey Safranek), Christoph Waltz (Dusan Mirkovic), Hong Chau (Ngoc Lan Tran), Director/Writer Alexander Payne and Co-Writer Jim Taylor.

    

Paul (Damon) and wife Audrey (Wiig)

When asked how the concept of people being shrunk to fit in a miniature village came about, director Alexander Payne says that his brother was thinking about the environment and downsizing for some reason a few years back. At the time he wasn’t referring to an idea for a movie but it rung a bell in his head and he put the wheels in motion. So, what brought Matt Damon to the project. Payne lays it out; “I needed a fantastic actor who would looks like a real human and not like a movie star even though he is a movie star.  But then, I also needed a movie star who could bring the financing for the hefty budget we needed. And at his age range, mid 40’s, really there’s only Matt Damon right now. I phoned his office and asked for an audience with Mr. Damon. He granted me that. I told him the story of the script, he raised his eyebrows. I handed it to him. He called me a week later and told me he accepted.”

Ngoc (Chau) and Paul (Damon)

     Hong Chau who plays a significant character in the film brought her brand of fun to the role of Ngoc Lan Tran, the Vietnamese love interest of Damon’s Paul character. What was her impression of the role? She smiles, “I was impressed that it was a story about immigrants and refugees that I had never seen before.” 

      Of course, with this being a so-called ethnic role the critics are going to judge stupid things and nit-pick about nonsense such as questioning the authenticity of Chau having a real Vietnamese accent because she is not Vietnamese to whatever else, the lady delivers a solid, entertaining performance.

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