The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981)

Directed by Joel Schumacher. Starring Lily Tomlin, Charles Grodin, Ned Beatty, Mark Blankfield, John Glover, Jim McMullen, Shelby Balik, Henry Gibson, Elizabeth Wilson, Maria Smith, Nicholas Hormann, Rick Baker. [PG]

Alarmingly unfunny comedy despite top onscreen talent; parody of Richard Matheson’s sci-fi story “The Shrinking Man” (and the loose film adaptation, The Incredible Shrinking Man) is as slapdash as the soft send-ups of marketing/advertising. Housewife Tomlin is exposed to chemicals from her ad exec husband’s company and she gradually shrinks to the size of a mouse. She becomes an unwitting celebrity, she nearly gets chopped to bits in a garbage disposal, she’s kidnapped by mad scientists, she’s rescued by a super-smart gorilla played by Rick Baker, that sort of thing. Tomlin’s original stand-up voice and one-woman sketch characterizations could have served as a nice counterpoint to the wild premise and special effects (à la Bill Murray’s ironic deadpan pitched against Richard Edlund’s souped-up F/X in Ghostbusters), but she isn’t given any elbow room, even though she gets to play three different roles—the shrunken woman, the housewife’s nasal and brassy friend, and a switchboard operator, the latter two being mere caricatures. Written by Tomlin’s partner (and future wife), Jane Wagner. Schumacher’s directorial debut. Mike Douglas appears as himself.

30/100