By Spencer Coile
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Downsizing took a quick downward turn during awards season. Premiering at the Venice Film Festival last August, it was met with exceedingly positive notices. This goodwill vanished after its lackluster showing at TIFF and its absence from subsequent awards conversation. And although the film is arguably not very good and looking like a non-entity for any major Oscar consideration, it does still have one strong asset: Hong Chau...
A performance both universally praised and steeped in controversy, Chau’s portrayal of Ngoc Lan Tran, a Vietnamese dissident who was shrunk against her will, is the remaining glimmer of hope in awards season. While she has garnered enough precursor love to make her a viable Supporting Actress contender (Critics Choice, Golden Globe, and SAG nominations is a formidable pre-Oscar combo), what hope does Chau have in ending the season with a Oscar nomination?
Ngoc Lan is introduced at the midway point of Downsizing. A political activist from Vietnam, Ngoc Lan immigrated to the United States inside a TV box and was the only survivor. She speaks in broken English, walks with a limp since half her leg was amputated, spends her free time taking care of downsized individuals from a lower socioeconomic status. To make ends meet, she works as a cleaning woman which is where she meets the film's leading character, Paul (Matt Damon). Her spirit and vitality inspire Paul and help him to care for those in need.
In very much the way Paul needs Ngoc Lan within Downsizing, we need Hong Chau in Downsizing. She is the fresh air that the film breathes. She is dynamic as a strong-willed, stubborn, compassionate woman. Sure, Payne and Jim Taylor's screenplay is troubling in the way it depicts Ngoc Lan -- oftentimes, reducing her to a stereotype for the sake of humor. Fortunately, Chau is still able to imbue Ngoc Lan with enough strength and earnestness to transcend any potential mockery. Ultimately, the highest compliment I can offer to Chau's performance is that she made me wonder why Downsizing wasn't about her in the first place.
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Ngoc Lan is a character who is brought into Downsizing to help its leading character, a white man, figure out his self-worth. On paper, she's a problematic character. But in Chau's hands, Ngoc Lan becomes the film's secret weapon.
As far as her awards chances are concerned, there is plenty of reason to believe that she'll squeak into that 5th spot. Downsizing doesn't have the same critical support as most of the other films with contenders in that category but it might not matter. Chau received best-in-show notices and stole every scene from much better-known co-stars. Oscars have been awarded for far less than transforming a one-note character from a middling movie into a fully-developed and complex human being.