Downhill is a Downer

by Kathia Woods

Downhill is a black comedy remake of the Swedish Film Force Majeure. The film stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell.

Ferrell and Dreyfus play a married couple on vacation in Austria, along with their two kids. At first, glance seeing the pairing of Dreyfus and Ferrell seems promising; however, the opportunity for cinematic hilarity was wasted. Dreyfus and Ferrell are Billie and Pete Stanton. They booked their Ski Vacation at an adult resort versus a family resort. After a day spent on the slopes, they sit down for lunch outdoors, taking in the sights only to be derailed by an avalanche. Billie’s motherly instincts kick in to protect their children, while Pete grabs his phone and runs for cover. Upon rejoining the family, Pete orders soup as if all is well. Billie still shocked about the avalanche, and more importantly, Pete’s reaction stares in amazement. Naturally, the mood of the vacation turns. All of the issues the Stanton's ignored are at the surface. At question is Pete checking out? Does he still love his family?

The vacation is further complicated when he invites working friend Zach (Zach Woods) and his wife Rosie (Zoe Chao) for cocktails. The problem is he failed to inform Billie. Cocktail hour with friends turns into a confrontation between husband and wife. Billie finally expresses her anger while the visiting couple are asked to pick sides. Matters further become complicated when Pete still defends his reaction.

In an attempt to have clarity about the disaster, the couple complains to Ski Patrol. Billie who is a lawyer passionately berates the ski patrol officer about their lack of awareness. Peter instead of supporting his wife mentions he did see signs but chose to ignore them. The vacation and possibly the marriage have hit another low. Kristofer Hivju, as Michel was given the task to provide some much-needed comic relief, however, even he couldn’t help this sinking ship. Miranda Otta, portrayed Charlotte the overly horny resort manager, also wasn’t able to provide comic relief.

How does one have the talent of Ferrell and Dreyfus in a film and manages to make it unfunny and tiresome? That is the question one posed to directors Jim Faxon and Jim Rash. Screenwriter Jesse Armstrong who wrote this movie along with the two directors, also bears some blame. The audience doesn’t know what this film is supposed to be. This film is in a constant state of confusion between drama and comedy, never having a real identity. We struggle with wonder if Pete is having a midlife crisis and is Billie being cold. We also never connected with the kids other than 45 min in Emerson finally informed his parents that he hated skiing. There is a reason that one shouldn’t remake a movie. Downhill on paper seems like a great idea, but what was delivered was an expensive bore. Downhill is another lesson that hiring two hilarious people isn’t enough; you actually need to give them funny material. Oddly enough, this film turns out to be a very downhill experience.

Scale- this film gets a two. It’s talent wasted and that is unforgivable.