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DVD cover for Downsizing
DVD cover for Downsizing

Downsizing,

directed by Alexander Payne

(R, 2 hours, 15 minutes)

There's an intriguing premise at the heart of Alexander Payne's affecting and surprisingly sweet Downsizing: If we are killing the world, maybe we should avail ourselves of any means necessary to minimize ourselves. If Norwegian scientists come up with a way to shrink ourselves to about 5 inches tall, why shouldn't we volunteer to reduce our footprint?

Paul Safranek's (Matt Damon) life got small a long time ago. He might have been a doctor had he not become caregiver to his dying mother. So instead he became an occupational physical therapist, a diligent yet depressed member of society. He and his wife, Audrey (Kristen Wiig), have stalled out on a low rung of the lower middle class of society.

When they meet their first little people, gathered in a Plexiglas shoe box for a high school reunion, Paul and Audrey are intrigued enough to investigate the option for themselves. And when they discover their minor savings converts to a multimillionaire lifestyle in the land of the small, they decide to undergo the irreversible operation.

As Paul wakes up on the other side, he finds Audrey has backed out at the last minute. She's divorcing him. He has to give up the deluxe dollhouse they'd selected and takes a job in a call center, one of the few professions available to the extremely tiny. Sure, it's a metaphor, but the second half of the story holds a few surprises before evaporating on an obvious upbeat note.

Downsizing is a love story and only incidentally a sci-fi comedy; its strength lies in observational moments. It's enjoyable, and Damon functions as an excellent Everyman, a slightly overweight dude who wishes he could be great -- and in the end satisfyingly settles for being good.

The Blu-ray combo pack includes nearly an hour of bonus content with six behind-the-scenes featurettes.

Pitch Perfect 3 (PG-13, 1 hour, 33 minutes) Yet another franchise that has outlived its welcome, Pitch Perfect 3 again unites the Belles, now college graduates, who are taking their a cappella act to Europe to perform at a USO show -- supposedly for the last time. Silly subplots abound, but the music is still sweet. With Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow, Hailee Steinfeld, Elizabeth Banks; directed by Trish Sie.

Small Town Crime (R, 1 hour, 31 minutes) There's always hope for a movie with John Hawkes in the cast, and self-assured, pulpy Small Town Crime is no exception. He plays ex-cop and heavy drinker Mike Kendall, who stumbles upon a body of a woman. He soon becomes consumed to find the killer, endangering his sister (Octavia Spencer) and best friend (Anthony Anderson) in the process. With Robert Forster, Michael Vartan, Dale Dickey (another valuable presence in any film); directed by Eshom Nelms and Ian Nelms.

The Vanishing of Sidney Hall (R, 1 hour, 59 minutes) A confusing, clumsily constructed mystery in which Sidney Hall (Logan Lerman) is a controversial author who writes a hugely successful novel loosely based on one of his former classmates who has died. Then Sidney suddenly disappears. And 10 years later, a detective tries to find out why. Good cast, though: Elle Fanning, Nathan Lane, Kyle Chandler, Michelle Monaghan, Tim Blake Nelson; directed by Shawn Christensen.

MovieStyle on 03/23/2018

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