The Incredible Shrinking Woman

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The Incredible Shrinking Woman

original movie poster
Directed by Joel Schumacher
Produced by Hank Moonjean
Written by Richard Matheson (novel)
Jane Wagner (screenplay)
Starring Lily Tomlin
Charles Grodin
Ned Beatty
John Glover
Elizabeth Wilson
Music by Suzanne Ciani
Cinematography Bruce Logan
Editing by Jeff Gourson
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date(s) January 30, 1981
Running time 88 min.
Country Flag of the United States United States
Language English
Budget Unknown
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The Incredible Shrinking Woman is a 1981 science fiction/comedy film, starring Lily Tomlin, Charles Grodin, Ned Beatty, John Glover and Elizabeth Wilson, and directed by Joel Schumacher. The film was written by Tomlin's longtime life partner and frequent collaborator, Jane Wagner. The original music score was composed by Suzanne Ciani. This film is a take-off on the 1957 science fiction classic The Incredible Shrinking Man, and credited as based on Richard Matheson's novel, The Shrinking Man.

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

Pat Kramer is an ordinary suburban wife and mother until she gets exposed to a strange mixture of household chemicals, including "Galaxy Glue", a new product from her husband's advertising agency. Soon after, she begins to shrink. As she becomes smaller and smaller, she finds it nearly impossible to fulfill her role as wife and mother. Eventually, she becomes a celebrity of sorts, appearing on the Mike Douglas show. Soon she is less that a foot tall, making her a doll to her children.

Pat is kidnapped by a group of mad scientists, who make it seem she perished in the kitchen garbage disposal. The scientists plan to shrink everyone in the world. With the help of the lab custodian and a super-intelligent gorilla, she escapes. Pat shrinks to microscopic size and falls into a puddle of spilled household product chemicals - which makes her return to normal size. The film ends with Pat's homecoming, however when her foot makes her shoe split open - the audience is left to imagine that she will now grow past her normal size.

This film carries an anti-consumer message, since a collection of perfumes, cleansers, and assorted household products is what caused Pat to shrink, and some consider it an early acknowledgement of multiple chemical sensitivity disorder.

The attack on consumerism has also been associated with early criticism of the Reagan Administration and Corporate America that was present during the 1980's.


[edit] Cast

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Films directed by Joel Schumacher

The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981) • D.C. Cab (1983) • St. Elmo's Fire (1985) • The Lost Boys (1987) • Cousins (1989) • Flatliners (1990) • Dying Young (1991) • Falling Down (1993) • The Client (1994) • Batman Forever (1995) • A Time to Kill (1996) • Batman & Robin (1997) • 8mm (1999) • Flawless (1999) • Tigerland (2000) • Bad Company (2002) • Phone Booth (2003) • Veronica Guerin (2003) • Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera (2004) • The Number 23 (2007)
v • d • e
American films of the 1980s
1980 · 1981 · 1982 · 1983 · 1984 · 1985 · 1986 · 1987 · 1988 · 1989