20 Times Directors You Trust Totally Let You Down
4. Alexander Payne - Downsizing
The Director:
Alexander Payne is one of today's most acclaimed independent filmmakers who is well known for his tragicomic dramas. His best-known films are The Descendants, Sideways and About Schmidt.
The Film:
Downsizing sees Alexander Payne go into new territory, and watching Downsizing, that's immediately clear. As you watch it, there's a real sense of someone completely out of their depth and not knowing what to do with several interesting ideas. It's enormously depressing to see someone who's clearly so talented making such a godawful film.
Downsizing can best be described as a 'Nothing' film, since there's nothing to take away from it whatsoever. It isn't funny, it isn't deep, it isn't clever and, worst of all, it's numbingly boring. The premise is great and it has a game, against-type performance from Christoph Waltz, but most of the time, Downsizing is painfully underwhelming - especially when Hong Chau's irritating, arguably racist character is on-screen.
Downsizing is a terrible movie, and frankly some Razzie nominations should have been on the cards, The only impressive things about this is the great premise, how much the film wastes said premise and how it gets even worse as it progresses.
Have They Bounced Back?
It's his most recent film so not yet. He probably will though.