Now Showing: The Incredible Shrinking Man

The Incredible Shrinking Man

Genre: Fantasy/Drama

Director: Jason Reitman

Writer: Billy Cruder

Based on the novel by Richard Matheson

Cast: Andrew Garfield, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ryan Kiera Amrstong, Judy Greer, Cary Elwes, Meredith Eaton, Elisha Cuthbert

Plot: Some people are in a room of a doctor's office to test drugs. At one point a man, Scott Carey (Andrew Garfield), comes out of the studio greeting everyone with a stack of money in his hand with a satisfied air.

Louise Carey (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is preparing dinner while she questions about her daughter Sophie (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), who is doing her homework, with geography-related questions as their cat Butch stretches on the sofa. At one point Scott comes home and starts joking with Sophie and then wooing his wife with a nice and sweet way that entertains both of them. Then he pulls out three tickets to Hawaii out of his pocket saying that he made some money back and that he finally decided that his two women deserved a nice vacation as they hadn't gone anywhere in the last few years due to money problems. Before going to bed she asks where he got the money but he answers vaguely and kisses Louise.

A few months later, one morning, Louise is in the garden giving the cat some milk and then goes inside to finish making breakfast. Meanwhile, Scott is upstairs getting dressed but realizes that the clothes are too loose. Plus he realizes that he is also losing weight and sympathetically scolds his wife for cooking her as because of her. Louise prepares him a big breakfast and tells him that when he gets back from work he will find her favorite cake. At that point, Sophie also applauds happily. Scott appears smiling but is very worried and visits his family doctor, Dr. Laura Bramson (Judy Greer) and is told his height measures 1.77. Scott informs the doctor that he's always been taller than that. The doctor blames his weight loss on overwork and stress and reassures him that people of that age don't get shorter.

A week later, before going to bed, Scott takes a shower and notices that his bathrobe also doesn't fit him very well. They get ready for bed and he kisses his wife and she also notices that he is getting shorter. When Louise suggests a visit to the doctor, Scott informs her that he saw Dr. Bramson a week ago while he is playing with the cat.

He returns to see Dr. Bramson again. Now Bramson has a series of X-rays taken at different times to compare. She confirms that Scott is indeed getting smaller. She can't explain why. She refers Scott to the California Medical Research Institute where the famous Dr. Thomas Silver (Cary Elwes) works to be evaluated more specifically. Many other exams and exams of all kinds follow. Scott seems more and more worried even if during the phone calls to his wife he tries to minimize everything. She tells him that the next day she will go to him.

Scott is lying in the hospital bed eating jam and laughing with his wife and daughter. Silver comes dark and tells Scott that he has his exam results. Louise takes the child out of her room and entrusts her to a nurse for a few moments. Silver approaches the couple and tells them that Scott is losing vital chemicals such as nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus. The doctor says he also found something that he does not belong to, describes it as an anticancer of unknown origin. The doctor asks for information but Scott says he doesn't know anything while the woman pursues the doctor saying to try some treatment and to do everything possible and approaches the window looking out with her arms folded. As the doctor is about to leave the room, Scott says he had participated in an experimental drug administration a few months earlier and provides the data to the doctor after being severely revived by his wife. Silver says that for unknown reasons this experimental drug appears to have altered its molecular structure and initiated a process in Scott's body that causes it to shrink. He then he says he's sorry and walks out the door. Scott doesn't know what to do and looks at his wife and notices that she has a tear running down her cheek. He approaches her and apologizes for everything and they start talking about her implications of her condition and their marriage of her and tells his wife that she is free to leave him and make a new life. She says no and promises that she will stay by his side. They then leave the hospital although before they leave, Scott's wedding ring falls off his shrinking ring finger even though neither of them notices.

Over the next few days Scott continues to shrink and is now the size of a five-year-old and for obvious reasons he has decided to quit his job. At this point Scott discusses with his wife the option of selling the story to reporters to raise some money. The woman doesn't agree at all because she doesn't want their family to become a freak. Scott however states that by now he has made up his mind and sells his story about him despite Louise's opposite opinion that she walks away slamming the door and says she would take their daughter to her grandparents.

Soon, already the next day, a crowd of journalists and curious people try to see Scott in every way, both lawfully and illegally. Louise begins to be impatient and the marriage begins to show signs of stress also because Scott makes all the decisions without listening to her opinion. Scott's behavior towards her, the incessant phone calls and knocking on the door are too much for Louise and at one point she leaves the house full of nervousness heading towards the crowd yelling and telling them to get away from there. She then she comes back inside her with tears in her eyes and lets herself go to a desperate cry. Scott approaches, apologizing, and says doctors are working on a drug that reverses his situation.

Scott is writing notes in his diary while Louise is in the basement fixing a dress. The phone rings, Scott picks it up and excitedly tells his wife that the drug is ready. Scott and Louise go to the hospital. Dr. Silver injects Scott and reminds them both that there is no guarantee of success. He says the chances are 50/50. Scott has to stay at the institute for a week. The following week Scott, Louise, Dr. Silver and his nurse meet. The nurse reports that Scott is the same height and weight as a week ago. Dr. Silver tells Scott that it looks like the process has stopped, but growing back to a normal size is an entirely different matter.

Scott turns gloomy; His marriage is deteriorating. He takes his coat and leaves the house and starts walking the streets noticing that all the people look at him and comment on him. Scott then realizes that the world sees him as some kind of monster. Bullies also start playing tricks on him and he runs away, taking refuge in a bar. He sits down at a table and is greeted by a dwarf woman, Clarice Bruce (Meredith Eaton). Clarice joins Scott at his table for coffee. She tells him that she was born a dwarf. She tries to reassure him that life is worth living. The release helped Scott's mood and he says he regained control of his life and has the idea of ​​writing a book about his situation. In the following days he continues to meet with Clarice, creating a beautiful relationship of friendship. The two sit on a bench in a park and he takes her hands and makes her read his book. But as they get off the bench, Scott notices that he is slightly shorter than Clarice. Scott starts screaming that the process is starting over. He panics and runs away without Clarice being able to stop him.

A few days have passed. The camera shows Scott inside a house while he is resting in an armchair and everything seems to be back to life size. But it soon becomes clear that Scott is living in a dollhouse. Scott wakes up with a start when everything starts shaking as Louise is walking down the stairs. Louise calls him and he goes out onto the balcony to talk to her. She informs him that she is on her way to grocery shopping. He goes back to his dollhouse and closes the door. Meanwhile, Louise opens the front door and then goes back to the table to get the shopping list before leaving. Butch, the cat, enters the house unnoticed. The cat sniffs around the dollhouse while Scott still tries to sleep in the chair. He hears the cat sniffing when he becomes aware of Scott's presence. He takes a makeshift weapon and goes to the door and the cat starts meowing and blowing hard and starts hitting the dollhouse to get Scott. The cat breaks one of the windows and manages to slightly scratch the man, who manages to escape and hide under a chair. The cat easily catches up with him and starts playing with his potential meal. Scott sees the lamp cord and the lamp on the table above dangerously close to the edge. He pulls the rope, drops the lamp which scares the cat. This gives him a chance to escape to the basement. He pushes the closed door on the cat, but before he can fully close it the cat pushes back. Louise, returning to the house, allows a gust of wind to open the basement door and throws Scott into Louise's sewing basket. Louise sees the cat and immediately runs to find Scott. She finds the dollhouse nearly destroyed and Scott is gone. She also finds a piece of Scott's bloody clothing and she tearfully concludes that Scott has been eaten.

Down in the basement, Scott regains consciousness in sewing basket. He uses a stopper to climb up to an opening in the box and notices that he has shrunk again by the time he's passed out. He realizes he can't go up the stairs. He calls his wife, but she can't hear him. A dripping water heater provides a source of water and a broken matchbox provides shelter. However, the man also begins to feel hungry. Meanwhile, Louise is talking to her friend Sharon (Elisha Cuthbert) about her future. Louise thinks Scott may be alive, but Sharon is sure he's dead and accepts what happened and she convinces her to leave the house and think about Sophie's well-being too. Without food, Scott realizes the shrinking process is accelerating. He sees an almost moldy piece of cheese in the corner of the wall but a spider is lurking and attacks him. Scott notices the presence of the animal and escapes just in time. He finds a pin and uses it as a weapon but the spider manages to get the better of it and bring it into the web. However, the man cleverly manages to escape from the spider's web and injure the dangerous animal and manages to take refuge in the matchbox. The spider fails to enter and leaves. "In my hunt for food, I had become the prey," he observes, laughing wryly as he bites into crumbs of food that he managed to catch on the run.

Sharon and Louise are packing their bags. Louise asks Sharon to get a small trunk located in the basement. Meanwhile The water heater leak gets bigger, now it drips onto Scott's matchbox at home. The dripping wakes Scott up. He goes out to investigate as the leaks from the water heater almost become a torrent. Charlie and Louise enter the basement and see the flooding. Scott calls but they can't hear him. Sharon removes some rags that have blocked the drain. They pick up the trunk and drive away from the house as Scott grabbed a pencil to use as a life preserver.

Scott regains consciousness after unloading, next to him the spider he had previously fought with. Scott screams but then realizes that the animal is dead, drowned by the water. Meanwhile, Scott is cold and wet and realizes he is even smaller than before. He realizes that he no longer feels hungry. He goes back to the ventilation screen, attracted by the incoming light. Now he is small enough to get in and manages to get out of there by finding himself in the garden. He raises his head looking at the darkening sky and the full moon. He walks around the courtyard looking at the stars. Then he begins to observe the now gigantic outside world evaluating how to survive. At that point Scott states "I still exist."