Downhill Review
A movie can be dull, slow, boring, disappointing, confusing, or simply not enjoyable. Maybe it’s an unexpected surprise or maybe it’s a complete let down that leaves you questioning what you just watched. We’ve all experienced it and its fundamental to the movie going experience. Sometimes you hit a home run, sometimes you get on base, and sometimes you strike out. Regardless, films are always there to discuss and debate. Some people may like a movie and others may find that it’s not their cup of tea. Whatever the case is, it gets us talking. That’s what makes the art of cinema so exciting.
Some movies on the rare occasion, however, make you angry that they even exist and Downhill is just that. Not having seen the 2014 Swedish film Force Majeure, from which the film is based upon, there’s not much insight I can give on how it stacks up to the original. All I can give is my opinion on this new American version and let me tell you that it’s a miserable experience. That is unless you like characters who have no background, depth, or redeeming qualities.
The Staunton family is made up of a bunch of unlikable people who I hated spending time with. The fact that stars Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus have no chemistry as a married couple doesn’t help the matter. The experience can only be described as unenjoyable and uncomfortable. We get the sense that for Ferrell’s character, Pete Staunton, this family ski trip is an escape from his real life, having just lost his father. Unfortunately, it never seems to be anything other than an excuse for the questionable decisions he makes after his family escapes an avalanche. There could have been a scene or two that showed Ferrell breaking down, realizing that his father’s old ski hat is the only tangible thing he has left to remember him. The way things stand, you don’t have any sympathy for the character because it never seems like he actually cares.
That’s one of the biggest problems throughout the 1 hour 26 minute runtime. We never get any background on any of our characters. There’s something to be said about films that sit you down right in the midst of things and give you just a slice of life story. That doesn’t work, however, when you have such unlikable and miserable people that you know absolutely nothing about. It amounts to a product that is unfunny and awkward. There’s obviously a lot going on in these peoples’ lives but Downhill doesn’t share any of it with its audience and that’s why the movie ultimately fails.
As it stands, the Stauntons are a bunch of selfish people whose actions make you hope you are never part of such a disastrous family. It’s a movie I wanted to like and turned into something I absolutely hated. I don’t often have such strongly negative things top say about a film but Downhill made me angry that I gave it any attention.
