Alexander Payne’s drama is tiny, not mighty

Payne’s social and ecological messages are lost in a morass of cheesy special effects, limp gags and aimless messaging

Matt Damon in Downsizing

Cinema

Downsizing: Directed by Alexander Payne, Nationwide, 15A,Rating:**

Early Man: Directed by Nick Park, Nationwide, G,Rating:***

Alexander Payne goes Jonathan Swift for the Lilliputian comedy-drama Downsizing, in which Matt Damon plays an ordinary Joe shrunk to five inches tall to make his money go further in a futuristic community of artificially tiny people called Leisureland. A rare stumble into high-concept science fiction from this most populist of American filmmakers, Payne’s social and ecological ...