"Downhill" Review: Comedy Remake Finds Rock-Bottom Fast
Plot Synopsis courtesy of IMDb.com: “Barely escaping an avalanche during a family ski vacation in the Alps, a married couple is thrown into disarray as they are forced to reevaluate their lives and how they feel about each other.”
Directed by: Nat Faxon (Community) and Jim Rash (Community)
Written by: Jesse Armstrong (Four Lions), Nat Faxon and Jim Rash
Cinematography by: Danny Cohen (Les Misérables)
Starring: Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Seinfeld), Will Ferrell (Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby) and Miranda Otto (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King)
Downhill is rated R.
Downhill is a remake of the 2014 Swedish film, Force Majeure, and follows Billie (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Pete (Will Ferrell) who travel to the Alps with their two children on vacation. It is clear from the start that Pete embodies quite a few aspects of a middle-aged man who feels outdated and washed — he is constantly checking Instagram to view photos of his younger colleague’s vacation and is altogether disconnected from the family. The film sets up the family trip as an attempt at a meaningful family event, but it is often overshadowed by the chaos keeping the children entertained and safe.
Billie’s frustration with Pete is evident but things come to a breaking point when a near-miss with an avalanche interrupts the family’s lunch. Rather than attempt to save his wife and children, Pete panics and flees the table in an event to save his own skin. Things go...well, “downhill” from here as Pete is unable or unwilling to acknowledge the impact his abandoning of his family has had on them. As the couple tries to reconcile their own frustration they are simultaneously hoping to hold together a trip that feels far from being a cherished family memory.
The one aspect of reality this film seems to understand is the parents’ attempts to force their children into having fun on an expensive vacation that is in a spiral. With that being said, Downhill feels at times too much like a worst-case scenario family trip that made their predicament more cringe-worthy than humorous.
Much like Pete, Ferell and Louis-Dreyfus seem entirely disinterested in being in this film after about 10 minutes. Whether they were too occupied looking at Instagram in between takes or perhaps disappointed by the lack of actual skiing required of them on set, the pair was far too believable as a couple who had lost any romantic spark and not enough like anybody one would choose to watch on film. The only person who brought any energy with them was the resort hostess, played by Miranda Otto, who unfortunately channeled that energy toward being overly nosey in guests’ intimate lives — and overly effusive about her own.
How Downhill managed to be so devoid of humor is still a mystery to me, given the obvious chemistry Ferrell and Louis-Dreyfus share elsewhere — most notably while presenting two awards during the Academy Awards earlier this week. The family’s situation and subsequent follies could make for inherently funny situational comedy if they weren’t sandwiched between nonsensical diatribes about recreational drugs, resort customer service and comparison shopping on social media.
Downhill is only 86 minutes long, but the filmmakers had to reach pretty far to even fill that much time. Probably a third of this movie is filled with scenes that have no relevance to the plot and the other two thirds bare only the slightest resemblance to what you could call a concept. It seems this would have worked better as a comedy sketch, or better yet, left alone in its original form.
Reel Rating: 3/10
Downhill opens in cinemas on Feb. 14
