Alexander Payne gives melancholy stories a hint of quirk. Each of his movies features a downtrodden protagonist who finds a glimmer of hope in the offing: Laura Derns pregnant druggie in Citizen Ruth, Reese Witherspoons ruthless go-getter in Election, Jack Nicholsons driftless retiree in About Schmidt, Paul Giamattis defeated wino in Sideways, George Clooneys troubled workaholic in The Descendants, Bruce Derns stubborn boozehound in Nebraska and, now, Matt Damons begrudging bachelor in Downsizing.

Usually, Paynes movies stay relatively small in scale, but Downsizing is far larger, which is sort of ironic since its about people becoming small. Imagine an adult Honey, I Shrunk the Kids more on that below (spoiler: Payne doesnt relish the reference) pitched as a fable about overpopulation and climate change. Scientists have concocted a procedure that shrinks humans to about five inches tall, after which they move to a miniaturized world. Damon, playing a spiritless office drone, elects to become little. He isnt very happy with what happens afterward. But, of course, theres a glimmer of hope somewhere in the distance maybe. The plot of Downsizing zigs and zags, requiring the most visual effects of Paynes career, as well as the largest budget ($70 million).

Before Christmas, I sat down with Payne at Paramount Pictures New York office, where we talked about casting lead roles, why Election is his most popular film and what he gets out of doctoring scripts like Meet the Parents and Jurassic Park III. In person, Payne is frosty, articulate and wry. He speaks with a screenwriters poise, as if his sentences have been scripted. Theres a sardonic edge to the way he comports himself, but, just like his characters, it doesnt come without a morsel of optimism.

Weve spoken before, on the phone. I wrote an oral history of Election a few years ago.

For whom?

For HuffPost.

Oh, right. Thats you? Whoa! I would have been happy to bring you, as a gift, the new Blu-ray of Election. It just came out a couple of days ago.

Its the Criterion Collection, right?

Criterion, with a bunch of extras. Im very proud its on Criterion.

You said recently that Election is still the movie youre most complimented on, and I started wondering why that is. I dont know if youve read your own Wikipedia page

Yeah, a while ago. Its been a while. I dont go there often.

One of the bullet points is about the themes of your work, and a big part of that talks about how many men are at the center of the stories you tell. The term crises of masculinity is used. Yet your first two movies were about women.

Strong, feisty women.

And then you went in a different direction. What prompted that?

Its stuff I can look at only in hindsight, I think. But when conceiving a film, Im just thinking, Whats good story? It was just the luck of the draw that About Schmidt came my way by way of an adaptation I was able to use a screenplay Id written 10 years before. And then I got the unpublished book of Sideways, which was the biggest gift Id had since getting the unpublished manuscript of Election. And then of course we wanted to do Downsizing, but that took forever to get made. Then I made The Descendants.

Im not consciously looking for the white male schnook. Its just, Whats a good story? I certainly hate being pigeonholed. Oh, youre the chronicler of middle-aged white men. I guess theres a certain degree to which from Mr. McAllister [in Election] to Warren Schmidt to Miles Whatever His Name Is in Sideways there is this white male in crisis, but its kind of the luck of the draw. I mean, my career is a work in progress just in slight slow motion.