Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

People are voting emotionally.

Let's be realistic.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Before I go any further, I'd just like to say I can't understand the people who complain this film doesn't stick to the spirit of the original. Though it contains a few humorous tributes (the central character's kids trying to frighten their mother with a rubber spider on a string, etc), it is a completely different story.Pat Kramer is an ordinary housewife who suddenly finds she is shrinking. The cause is a mix of various products, and before long she is living in a doll's house, being menaced by wind-up toys and being trapped in a sink before finding herself in a laboratory at the mercy of a secret organization who intend to shrink the people of the world. This film is entertaining and has a good cast (I'd never have realized Lily Tomlin was playing those two characters but for the credits list at the end of the film), is also a social satire about the way tacky products and advertising are taking over society.

I recently had to watch this film for a "mass media/culture" class in college, and I have to say it was pretty bad. While Schumacher is not one of my favorite directors, I did not expect the trite, preachy piece of crap which this movie turned out to be. Tomlin, Grodin, and Beatty do their best to follow a god-awful script, which beats you over the head with insanely liberal thinking (AND I'M A LIBERAL!). Basically, the film says CONSUMERISM=BAD while pandering to a consumer market. Any film with such a simplistic plot (SHRINK THE WORLD'S POPULATION?!) and dumb comedy has no right to be preachy. C'mon people, a monkey? While the first half hour or so was amusing and pretty right-on satire for the early 80s consumer mindset, the film got too bogged down in its own pretentiousness and quickly fell apart.What really bugged me, and many others in the class (including the professor) was the horrifically stereotyped maid, Concepcion. With her slutty Latina ways, ignorance of English, and simpering Mexican friends, I was surprised Hispanic rights groups were not up in arms. I thought it was akin to the loyal, watermelon-eating, "Yessuh yessuh" black servants of movies through the 1950s. It was truly as offensive as those horrific depictions and even more out of place in a movie with such liberal, high-minded subject matter.All I can say is the actors try, they really really do. And for about half an hour, the film succeeds. Then tanks miserably. Do yourself a favor and watch something intelligent and funny with a similar theme instead of this garbage. I would suggest Terry Gilliam's Brazil.

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.