Alexander Payne’s Downsizing is a bittersweet comedy drama with a high concept, a huge heart, a gigantic running time and a few small problems. Its plotting follows a long, circuitous path, and some viewers will feel that this path contains one or two wrong turnings. Other viewers, though, will embrace the film as an understated classic of intelligent, satirical science-fiction. And everyone will agree that Payne and his co-writer, Jim Taylor, have paid close attention both to the big picture and the tiny details.
