Directed by Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
Where & When: Arclight Cinemas, Hollywood, CA. February 16, 2020 5:45 PM
"Downhill" is an English-language remake of the Swedish film, "Force Majeure", Ruben Östlund's darkly comedic drama on martial tensions due to a husband's unexpected response during a moment of apparent crisis. Nat Dixon and Jim Rash, the team behind "The Descendants" and "The Way Way Back", have put an American spin on the story and have stars, Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the long-time married couple whose relationship becomes seriously fractured during a family vacation. The filmmakers only use the major plot point of the source material then adds their own particular point-of-view to this version. Yet unlike "Force Majeure", the aftermath of the emotional fallout in "Downhill" feels ugly, brutal and you begin to wonder why this unstable couple were together in the first place.
The Staunton family; Billie (Louis-Dreyfus), Pete (Ferrell) and their two teenage boys, Finn (Julian Grey) and Emerson (Ammon Jacob Ford), have arrived at a ski resort in Austria. With Pete's father recently passing away, this is seen as an opportunity for the family to reconnect and spend some quality time together.
After a morning spent skiing, the family decide to have a lovely lunch outside at a restaurant with a beautiful view of the Alps. Following a controlled avalanche that has been set off, a giant wall of snow begins racing down the mountain. Some people start to panic as the avalanche appears to be heading directly towards the chalet. Unable to move in time, Billie just grabs her boys to prepare for the worse. But only a light, snowy mist covers the area. However when it completely clears, Billie sees that Pete had taken off during the ordeal and now has sheepishly returned to the table. At first, Billie is shocked and upset by her husband's behavior but this quickly shifts to anger when Pete refuses to admit that he ran off without much concern for his family.
The approach that "Downhill" takes in dealing with the complications of this emotional betrayal becomes decidedly American; a relentlessly unpleasant battle between the couple on who can be the most smug, entitled and narcissistic. With no real honest conversation between them about how they each feel about the incident, Pete stubbornly sticks to his version-of-events, feeling unjustly bullied by his wife while Billie is left simmering and barely able to contain her righteous outrage. Ferrell and Louis-Dreyfus, who have both proven able to expertly shift from comedy to drama, valiantly try yet are unable to make us feel much empathy for either one in this married couple.
With the characters in "Downhill" slightly more mature than in the original film, this story finds Pete in the middle of a mid-life crisis, enviously watching the social media feed of his younger co-worker, Zach (Zach Woods) who happens to be in Europe at the same time with his hot new girlfriend, Rosie (Zoë Chao) having fun and sexy times. Desperate for a distraction from the tension, Pete unwisely invites the couple to spend an evening with him and his irritated wife. The conversation unavoidably leads to "the incident" with Billie asking them for their opinion after reliving the event. With Pete still insisting he couldn't possibly have run away since he was wearing ski boots, a frustrated Billie actually drags the boys out of their room so they can verify her story, leaving Zach and Rosie (and the audience) stunned in to an awkward, uncomfortable silence.
The script for "Downhill" tries to forge it's own path in creating some edgy humor from callous melodrama. But the movie fails to deliver. The family situations fall flat with low-energy bickering and strained dark comedy. The stakes of this couple's marriage never manages to feel urgent with neither one putting up much of a fight, seeming to be indifferent to the idea of actually trying to save their union.
The only highlight is Miranda Otto as Charlotte, the hotel's concierge, a character that is somewhat developed and delivers the few laughs found in the film. With an unrecognizable European accent, she is an indomitable and brusque force, demanding to be friends with the American couple. After sharing with Billie about her uncomplicated, seasonal open marriage, Charlotte pushes her in the direction of an Italian ski instructor (Giulio Berruti), a Lothario who predictably tries to show her some moves off the slopes.
The scene in "Downhill" that best displays the problem with the couple (and largely the film) is when they decide to go to the ski resort's management to complain about the lack of notification about the controlled avalanches. After the manager (played by Kristofer Hivju, best known for his role as Tormund Giantsbane in "Game of Thrones" and also appeared in "Force Majeure") informs them that there are signs throughout the entire resort, Billie insists she had never seen a single one. Pete timidly begins to admit that he might have seen a sign yet halfheartedly backs up his wife, attempting to blame the resort for it's negligence. The lack of communication between this couple is more sad and hardly amusing while watching the self-righteous display of these ugly Americans was incredibly off-putting to witness.
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