It has a killer hook -- sometime in the near future European scientists discover how to shrink down human beings (in an effort to control the size of the population) and eventually a whole new living space has been created for little people, with their financial value increasing while their size decreases. The ads and trailers for the film get a lot of mileage out of that premise but when you see the finished film you'll find much of the goodies of the movie's first half are spoiled for you.
What you are left with is a surprisingly detached process-oriented film for the first half of its running time and in my opinion a rather forced attempt at philosophical heft in the second. I can see how some might argue this movie's merits, but for me I saw its "appreciate the small things" message coming from a mile away.
I suppose a big part of the problem is Matt Damon, who after flying high with The Martian just a few years ago, seems to be really turning off audiences with his choices both on screen and off as of late.
I just don't buy Damon as a doughy everyman (although he did handle a variation on that role well enough in Contagion). Here he is so banal as to be boring and the movie is asking us to invest in him emotionally so that's a big problem.
In fact, the movie only comes alive when up-and-coming actress (and an Oscar hopeful for this) Hong Chau shows up as a Vietnamese ex-refugee who is trying to make the most of her stay in this tiny universe.
Much has already been made abut Chau's decision to play her role in a heavy, broken English accent. There have been problematic reviews calling it brave, and equally problematic ones calling it racist.
I simply think it's the character that is the problem, not the performance, which is lovely.
She is essentially playing the Asian version of the 'magical negro' here. For the most part, her sole story function is to help Damon become a better person and as her character develops I couldn't help wonder how interesting this film might have been had it been from her perspective from the start.
There are other amusing actors in the film but they're totally wasted. Kristen Wiig misses the opportunity to make much of an impact, and Jason Sudekis is essentially doing just a cameo. I enjoyed seeing the great Christoph Waltz playing Damon's loosey-goosey neighbor, but none of these actors can elevate this material, which doesn't seem to know what to do with itself.
On one level I appreciate that the film presents its absurd premise matter-of-factly and keeps the silly sight gags to a minimum but this still feels like the first Payne film that isn't as smart and winning as it thinks it is.
As for Damon, well, he's a big enough movie star that I am sure he'll recover from these past couple years (he also flopped hard with Suburbicon and The Great Wall), but he should probably keep the whitesplaining/mansplaining to a minimum.
And as for Payne, perhaps he has plumbed the depths of white male ennui a few too many times at this point. He has done a good job of making us care about broken down, schlubby men in the past -- in fact, with the notable exceptions of Citizen Ruth and Election, all of his films primarily focus on aging white men desperately trying to reassert themselves into the fabric of the world.
But in 2017 that feels like the wrong vehicle for his talents and for the temperament of audiences, which is probably why this awards-season-wannabe fell short.
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