Downhill Review
R: Language and some sexual material Runtime: 1 Hour and 26 MinutesProduction Companies: TSG Entertainment, Likely StoryDistributor: Searchlight Pictures (RIP Fox)Directors: Nat Faxon, Jim RashWriters: Jesse Armstrong, Nat Faxon, Jim RashCast: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Will Ferrell, Miranda Otto, Zoë Chao, Zach Woods, Kristofer HivjuRelease Date: February 14, 2020
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.
It’s fitting that Julia Louis-Dreyfus produced this because she delivers a great performance here. It’s also beneficial that her character (Billie) is the only likable person that you attach yourself to. Given the weight of the situation she’s put in, all of her emotional reactions — especially after going through a near-death experience with her kids — are completely rational and empathetic. When your spouse abandons you and your kids to save himself — and you all survive — you’re right to be upset and lash out. Also, who in their right mind would abandon Julia Louis-Dreyfus?! She’s a national treasure and gorgeous as hell! I personally can’t make jokes regarding Camila Morrone dating Leo DiCaprio because I know good and well I’d give it up for JLD in a heartbeat! I can’t offer much, but I know that in a similar situation I would shield her and those kids with my 5’3” body. Seriously, when those emotional moments regarding Billie hit, you get swelled up too because you feel the pain she feels. You root for her to make the right decision and divorce her shitty husband! Out of all the supporting characters, Zach Woods and Zoë Chao are fun! They are such a good foil to Billie and Pete’s relationship and when they come into the picture, they bring the comedy up. Most of my laughs came from them reacting to this couple and their decomposing marriage.
This film is a remake and I have never seen the 2014 Swedish version, Force Majeure. Even if I had seen it, I wouldn’t have compared this to the original because I know the original had a separate tone. So, I’m able to criticize Downhill as its own thing. That being said, Downhill is a prime example of everything that I hate about marital comedies. It’s utterly disappointing that this is from the guys who did The Way, Way Back because that film was unexpectedly mature, subtle, and relatable, especially with the way it handled its themes. This, on the other hand, features none of those qualities and trades them for something that is just shallow, silly, and frustrating. Just looking at Billie and Pete (Ferrell), you can assume right off the bat that this is an incompatible couple who needs to divorce. Near-death experience aside, they barely have a spark because Billie is a pushover and Pete is a fucking dick. The majority of this movie’s problems lie within Will Ferrell’s character, Pete. Ferrell attempts to make this material work, but the way his completely unlikeable character is written made me hate him and this movie.This is one of those marital stories where ONLY the man is at fault and it forces you to watch him try to redeem himself while he does everything in his power to piss you off. Pete’s a major dick towards Billie and there comes a time for him to buck up and address his actions. What’s his excuse? His father has been deceased for 8 months. You’re a grown fucking man in your 40s or 50s. People die, dude! It’s obvious he’s in the midst of his mid-life crisis and that was a major factor, but damn, it’s been 8 months. Not to sound insensitive but his behavior just pisses you off. I fucking hate this dude and the movie forces you to sympathize and root for him. I’m sorry but once that argument scene occurs and he treats Billie like shit in front of his friends, I wrote him off as a complete fucking asshole without any redeeming qualities at all. The damage was done. Bitch is a lost cause and it ruined the remainder of the movie where he still acts like a selfish asshole until the last 10 minutes, which by then is — in the words of a great singer named Jojo — too little too late.
I assume this narrative’s tone differs from that of the original film, but for such a mature premise centered on marital issues, the jokes often fall into the trappings of a studio comedy. This is sillier and strips all of its realism away for a resulting weak product. This is one of those comedies where famous actors appear to do funny voices and say raunchy things for a cheap laugh. Miranda Otto is in the supporting cast and she feels as if she’s from an entirely different movie. Her character just does not fit into this story, for she’s projecting this thick German accent and making nothing but obscene, unfunny sex jokes. As a matter of fact, most of the jokes are unfunny and they often disrupt the tone and/or the rhythmic flow of the story. The plot is a fucked up situation that needs to be handled maturely but every time it enters a two-way track to tackle the situation at hand and confront the elephant in the room, the movie spirals out of control and takes every wacky route possible, only to add pointless scenes of comedy. I can understand that Faxon/Rash’s intentions were to elevate the tension and discomfort, but those scenes led me to feel completely annoyed. The movie is short as hell — 86 minutes, to be exact — yet, it goes on forever because its shallowness overweighs you to an extent that you keep wondering when it’s going to end. The title for this is fitting because, after the plot kicks in, it truly does go Downhill from there. Rating: 2/5 | 42%
