IMDb RATING
5.5/10
5.4K
YOUR RATING
A housewife grows smaller and smaller in reaction to chemicals found in cosmetics and household products.A housewife grows smaller and smaller in reaction to chemicals found in cosmetics and household products.A housewife grows smaller and smaller in reaction to chemicals found in cosmetics and household products.
- Awards
- 1 win & 3 nominations total
Jim McMullan
- Lyle Parks
- (as James McMullan)
Rick Baker
- Sidney
- (as Richard A. Baker)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
If I were still a child I would perhaps give it a higher score, but from what I remember it did get a bit lame at times and the effects while good for a kid would not stand up as well now. Still, it was a funny movie about a woman whose husband is like with an ad office or with a company that makes a lot of different products. Whatever he was, his job made it so his wife came into contact with a lot of different products which in turn causes her to start to become smaller and smaller. At first there are just a few subtle signs like her appearance at a window, but soon it becomes very apparent. While she gets shorter and shorter she gains the attention of a rather dangerous person and ends up imprisoned. The film for the most part is funny, kind of strange turns here and there such as the monkey, but hey it was never meant to be a serious film. It does though get a bit to dark in the end for the type of movie it was up until that point. Still, Lily Tomlin is great in the lead role as the shrinking woman and Charles Grodin does an admirable job as the father, though it is a role he can do in his sleep.
Granted, when I last watched this movie, I was probably no more than 10 years old, but it has stuck with me and I would love to see it again! Though others may think the graphics and effects were lame, I look at it this way: it was the 80's...all movies that have effects and such look lame now that we've gone digital and become more technologically advanced. To me, the premise and the antics are what carries this movie in a way that it's a must have in any comedy fan's video library. The physical comedy that stems from Lily Tomlin's vertically challenging situation is pure fun. C'mon, how could the antics from shrinking at a rapid pace NOT be funny?!?!? Now, just have to find it so my daughters can share in the experience...
This is one of Lily Tomlin's best movies. It's kind of corny, but it's supposed to be. Did anyone notice the bright colors, that satire the 70's, like the lime green? It's charming and amusing, and as a kid, I guess when Pat disappeared it was a little scary, but I knew she would be OK, because she was the star of the movie. It was not that scary, I've seen a lot worse. Most of all, it's very entertaining, and not the least bit tedious if you have a sense of humor and a good imagination. When you watch a movie like this, you have to suspend your disbelief and let your inner child out. This is one of my favorite comedies. Lily is great!
Lily Tomlin has so many comedic talents. And they are all here in this film. Dry wit, dual roles (she's good at that), Ernestine the operator, Edith Ann, the little brat (in a deleted scene). Pure enjoyment. I remember seeing this as a kid. Now as an adult, I enjoy it again, being able to catch little pieces of the humor I never understood as a child. An adorable comedy is all this is. I read so many of these user comments and find too many people looking for some sort of message or spiritual enlightenment or an answer to the meaning of life. Get real. It's cute. Just enjoy it.
A good idea that doesn't work: a sassy, sweetly-zonked wife and mother discovers to her surprise that all the household and sundry chemicals her advertising-executive husband brings home are making her shrink. Actually, this gloppy-looking comedy does manage to get off on the right foot, with playful and funny glimpses into Tomlin's home-life, but once she shrinks and crosses paths with ready-set villains (not to mention talk show host Mike Douglas...who sings!!), the movie frays and falls apart. It's badly photographed (one of the worst-looking movies of the 1980s--what were they thinking when they watched the dailies?) and allows star Tomlin too much room to stretch her comedic chops (playing kooky characters incognito, Lily is much friendlier and funnier just playing a quirky modern woman). A disappointment for Tomlin's fans, especially since the biggest laugh in the picture is delivered by a gorilla flipping the bird. ** from ****
Did you know
- TriviaDebut theatrical feature film directed by Joel Schumacher. In his his 2002 autobiography "I Like it Better when You're Funny," Charles Grodin recounts Shumacher once saying "I'm giving directions to Lily Tomlin and Charles Grodin, and they're listening to me!"
- GoofsThe position of Judith's arms change after she sits on the kid's toy in the kitchen.
- Alternate versionsWhen ABC broadcast the film in 1983, there are scenes that were not in the theatrical cut: Dr. Ruth communicating with patients on monitors. During these scenes, Pat was finding ways to get out of her cage. Also, this scene includes Lily Tomlin's role as Edith Ann (which she played on her Broadway shows). Finally, Pat Kramer tries to reach the switches to turn on the monitor but, she turned it on with her foot.
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- La femme qui rétrécit
- Filming locations
- 2245 Yosemite Dr, Los Angeles, California, USA(grocery store)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $10,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $20,259,961
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $4,279,264
- Feb 1, 1981
- Gross worldwide
- $20,259,961
- Runtime
- 1h 28m(88 min)
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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