Genre Mislabeling

[jackfaire]

I went into the movie Downsizing (Matt Damon) expecting a comedy.

All of the previews focused on his interactions with Jason Sudekis a well known comedic actor.

(SPOILERS AHEAD)




The scenes with Jason make up at best I would say about five minutes of the over 2 hour movie. He plays an important role in as much as he is part of the catalyst launching Matt Damon's character (Paul) on his journey butt he has little to do with most of it.

The movie is very good but it's firmly in the Drama Genre. It's got social, environmental, and global commentary. It explores ideas in a way that uses the Science Fiction element more as a backdrop but in my opinion is the first movie that does this well.

That's besides the point.

It is absolutely not a comedy. Yes there are funny moments but nothing that falls under "this is a comedy film"

It's more thought provoking than Ha Ha and I think does itself a great disservice trying to pretend anything else.

[Judecat]

But I never saw it labeled as a comedy. It was billed as a Drama and Science Fiction.

[jackfaire]

Originally Posted by Judecat

But I never saw it labeled as a comedy. It was billed as a Drama and Science Fiction.

I was mostly talking about the marketing. I apologize if that wasn't clear. While the movie itself is labeled as a Drama and Sci-Fi none of the previews presented it as such. All of the marketing material previews, trailers, teaser trailers all of them focused on the stuff with Jason Sudekis a well known comedic actor.

I enjoyed the movie in spite of expecting a comedy. It's not a new problem either. The Cable Guy is one of the earliest examples I can remember. It too was marketed like it was another Jim Carrey comedy. It was not.

Most casual movie goers don't deep dive onto IMDb or other sites to check a genre tag before going to see a movie. Usually they rely on a trailer or preview.