"The strange, almost stranger than strange, unbelievable story of Pat Kramer is the one that must be told. I know because, unfortunately, I am Pat Kramer." - Pat

The Recap

Joel Schumacher. The name alone can make a grown man weep into his Batman hankie while giving others flashbacks to rubber nipples and Batgirl (get those dirty thoughts out of your mind!).

Schumacher however can, when he wants to, be a decent filmmaker, so I have decided to saddle up and take a look back through his back catalogue and see if we can't erase those memories of Batman And Robin and replace them with something better. Starting with a look back at his very first film, The Incredible Shrinking Woman.

Based on the novel The Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson published in 1956, the action is moved to modern day early 80s America. Pat Kramer (Lily Tomlin) is the perfect All American housewife, until one day exposure to a mix of household chemicals and a tub of Galaxy Glue that her husband Vance (Charles Grodin) has brought home to work on advertising ideas for, makes her begin to shrink.

Baffling doctors and scientists as to why she is shrinking, Pat begins to find everyday life more and more difficult and soon has to give up her household duties. News of the shrinking woman spreads, however, and Pat makes her way onto the talk show circuit and becomes a household name, winning over the public at large and becoming a local hero.

As she continues to shrink, she is relegated to living in her children's dollhouse and becomes depressed at her ever decreasing size.

Wanting to discover Pat's secret, a group of scientists kidnap her and make it look like she has died by falling down the disposal unit in the kitchen sink. At their lab they begin to perform experiments to try and find out how to shrink people, hoping they can take over the world with the technology.

Unable to escape herself, she teams with the lab's janitor Dan (Ned Beatty) and a super intelligent gorilla by the name of Sydney. By this point, Pat is no bigger than a microscopic dot and falls to the floor and into a puddle of cleaning fluid which magically turns her back to normal size.

Reunited with her family, Pat's life seems to be returning to normal, until the very last scene shows her shoes splitting as her foot grows, insinuating that the reverse is now taking place.

Thoughts & Reaction

For a first feature film The Incredible Shrinking Woman isn't a bad starting off point. Before taking the director's seat, Schumacher had been working in the fashion industry. After deciding filmmaking was his passion, he upped and moved to LA, working in wardrobe on sets while earning his Masters in Film Making from UCLA. He wrote screenplays for some low budget films, but his first big success came as screenwriter for the re-make of The Wizard Of Oz, The Wiz which starred Diana Ross and Michael Jackson and led to him helming this movie.

Whenever I see this movie I can't help but think of it as a love letter of sorts to the B-movies of the 50s, while keeping its tongue firmly in its cheek. It has been said that this movie holds a very staunch anti-consumerism banner and, to some point, I can agree. After all, the 80s was the decade of greed and opulence and too much of a good thing could be bad for you. But at the same time it is also just a bit of a fun filled romp.

Lily Tomlin is great in the lead role of Pat (and, indeed, the three other roles that she plays) and you do sometimes forget what a great comedic actress she is. As roles for women decrease as their ages increase, it does seem a shame we don't see her on screen more often, but she reminded me of her greatness again recently with a stint on Desperate Housewives.

Her supporting cast is made up of well known faces and names and it can be fun to play ‘spot who you know ‘as the movie progresses. Bit of trivia for sci-fi fans out there, the Rick Baker is hiding inside Stanley's suit.

Although it will never be remembered as a classic, you could do a lot worse than watching this movie on a boring Sunday afternoon. It will make you laugh and afterwards you will have forgotten all about it, which sometimes is all you need.

Next time I will be looking at a film which any A-Team fan will be sure to know as it stars Mr. T, no less, D.C. Cab.

The Incredible Shrinking Woman Key Info:
Released: 30th January 1981
Distributed By: Universal Pictures
Budget: $18,000,000
Box Office Gross: $20,259,000
Best DVD Edition: The Incredible Shrinking Woman DVD