The Incredible Shrinking Woman

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The Incredible Shrinking Woman

PG

1981

1h 28m

Comedy

Fantasy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

27%

Tomatometer

11 Reviews

51%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Pat Kramer (Lily Tomlin) leads the typical "American Dream" lifestyle, with husband Vance (Charles Grodin) making the money while she raises their two kids in suburban California. But when the chronic consumer gets poisoned by the chemicals in her household products, she suddenly shrinks to a tiny size and becomes a media sensation. In addition to the problem of her odd condition, the miniature Pat must also contend with a conniving corporation who wants to exploit her situation for evil.

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Vincent Canby

New York Times

The film's major difficulty is the screenplay by Jane Wagner.

Rated: 2/5

Dec 10, 2007

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Time Out

Good intentions and one's own goodwill are soon diminished as script and direction conspire to render a sitcom satire that's indistinguishable from its target.

Dec 10, 2007

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Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

What's really incredible is how far this film goes to avoid the ideas, feminist and otherwise, embedded in its premise.

Dec 10, 2007

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Phil Edwards

Starburst

The Incredible Shrinking Woman is a fun picture, although its savage satire occasionally gets in the way of the laughs.

Jul 26, 2022

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

It attempts to make some salient points about American consumerism, but they're generally buried in an approach that's best described as overbearing.

Rated: 1.5/4

Sep 19, 2021

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Larry Vitacco

Philadelphia Gay News

A very amusing, slightly philosophical comedy.

Rated: 3/4

May 27, 2020

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Stephen C

Funny in 1 hour and 28 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dubbed and subtitled in worldwide studios!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Filmed on January 30th, 1981, in color!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Celebrating 45 years in 2026!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Copyright 1981-2025 by NBC Universal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/01/25

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J V

This movie is funny & the gorilla scenes are hilarious.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/27/25

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Audience Member

The most perfect 80's movie.. strange in a good way, impossible to predict. A cinematic representations of the chemical contamination of the female homemaker's body. Engaging the discourse of illnesses caused by products of technology and industry, this films reveals a profound anxiety regarding the integrity of our homes and bodies, as well as a skepticism of the solutions offered by scientific and technological advances. Its also so cute when she's little and I mean..... .Lily Tomlin and Charles Grodin, need I say more.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

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Audience Member

Joel Schumacher's awful and plotless waste of time and energy excuse of a movie would be better if it just shrank away out of my memory.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

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Audience Member

Jane Wagner's movie has some great satirical ideas around environmental and consumerism concerns. But the sheer silliness not only cause the film to lose focus -- it totally knocks the whole movie off the rails. A failure with a couple of funny moments.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

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Audience Member

I watched this 1x when i was little and liked that she was tiny.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

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Joel Schumacher

Director

Lily Tomlin

Pat Kramer

Charles Grodin

Vance Kramer

Ned Beatty

Dan Beame

Henry Gibson

Dr. Eugene Nortz

Elizabeth Wilson

Dr. Ruth Ruth

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Synopsis

Pat Kramer (Lily Tomlin) leads the typical "American Dream" lifestyle, with husband Vance (Charles Grodin) making the money while she raises their two kids in suburban California. But when the chronic consumer gets poisoned by the chemicals in her household products, she suddenly shrinks to a tiny size and becomes a media sensation. In addition to the problem of her odd condition, the miniature Pat must also contend with a conniving corporation who wants to exploit her situation for evil.

Director: Joel Schumacher
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 30, 1981, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 18, 2016
Runtime: 1h 28m

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