Downsizing

When I first saw the trailer for Downsizing, I thought it was going to be a fun sci-fi “dramedy” that I wanted to take a look at someday. Now I got my chance with a 4K UHD Blu-ray review copy of it, and while it has its moments of greatness, they’re small while the overall movie is plagued by big pacing/direction problems (puns intended of course).

Our own Travis Seppala reviewed this one while it was playing in theaters, so be sure to check out his review for full plot details and more while I give my two cents on this release. I have to agree with not only Travis but most of the reviews I’ve seen and read on this film, as it has some decent moments here and there, but for the most part it can be a bit of a slog to sit through. Just when you think things are starting to make sense, it throws you for a loop with bad pacing and direction as though the movie doesn’t know where to go next and just tosses in some random dialogue scenes to pad out it’s short story (another pun, zing).

At least it looks and sounds good with 4K UHD and HDR color. Since the film is quite slow most of the time, you’ll get to see every detail on the screen as well as hear everything thanks to crystal clear visuals and Dolby HD audio. As far as extras go, it appears they’ve come up a bit short (zing again!) as there isn’t much to go through. “Working With Alexander” is a brief extra on how the cast and crew felt about working with director Alexander Payne, “A Visual Journey” was one of my favorites and goes into the film’s production design, “The Cast” focuses on the cast members and how they brought the movie and their characters to life, “A Matter of Perspective” takes us into the visual effects used, “That Smile” discusses Matt Damon and how most people tend to just love him and his famous smile, and lastly “A Global Concern” goes into the environmental issues brought up in the the film.

It was a slog most of the time, but I still managed to like Downsizing if only barely. I wanted to stick around and see how this slow moving piece was going to turn out, but most viewers will likely not have that kind of time and patience for it. If you don’t mind these issues and love Matt Damon, this size just might fit you. Everyone else might feel as though they’re getting short changed watching this one.