Downhill - Movie Review

While watching this movie, I came to one unquestionable truth in my life: elderly people are decidedly worse in theaters than young children (who answers their phone mid movie?!? Rude!). Despite the rough theater experience, I put that aside to give this movie its due attention.

FACTS FIRST

Reported Budget:  N/A

Opening Domestic Box Office: $4.6 million (4 day total)

Opening Worldwide Box Office: N/A

Rotten Tomatoes Critics/Audience Score: 40% / 11%

Cinema Score: D

End Credit Scene: No

NON-SPOILER REVIEW

Directors Nat Faxon and Jim Rash bring this R rated comedy/drama remake of Force Majeure to theaters. The movie focuses on the strained relationship of Pete (played by Will Ferrell) and Billie (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus). A traumatic event during the family ski vacation causes a rift in the couple that makes everyone around them (including their kids) very uncomfortable.

This movie falls somewhere between a comedy and a drama, which hurts the film in my opinion. The comedy never really hits and ultimately distracts from the serious tones the movie tries to establish. I feel like most people come into this movie expecting pure comedy because the two leads are talented comedic actors. If you're expecting Elf or Veep performances, then you will be disappointed.


OVERALL RECOMMENDATION

This film was less than ninety minutes long but felt like it was over two hours. I would have liked them to stick more to a serious tone, challenging the more comedic nature of the leads. I think Julia delivers the best overall performance of the movie by fully committing emotionally. There are some wonderful shots of the Alps. My favorite part of the movie might have been a quick cameo by Kristofer Hivju (Tormund from Game of Thrones) who plays a safety officer at the ski resort.

My Rating: C-

SPOILER REVIEW

I'm not really sure whether they wanted to make an Alps version of Marriage Story or a family version of Eurotrip. Early in the movie, they establish an uncomfortable tension between our featured couple by having Billie tell Pete to get off his phone and be more present in the moment. This is immediately followed by them meeting Charlotte (played by Miranda Otto) who, I guess, works for the resort. Maybe? It's never really established what her role is, other than an eccentric, very liberal, and very comfortable-in-her-own-skin European stereotype. She constantly brings up being nude in hot tubs and various sexual experiences.


I could maybe let one caricature of a typical European slide, except later in the movie we meet Guglielmo (played by Giulio Berruti). Guglielmo ends up giving Billie a private ski lesson that inevitably ends up with him seducing her in a secluded cabin. 


The main point of tension in the movie comes when there seems to be an avalanche rushing toward a restaurant where the family is sitting. Billie puts her arms around the children as Pete grabs his phone and runs from the table. She believes that he abandoned her and the kids to die so he could save himself. In reality, the avalanche was a controlled measure by the resort that results in a dusting of snow on the tables of the restaurant.


Pete attempts to avoid talking about the matter by either deflecting or inviting a work friend, (who happens to randomly be traveling through Europe at the same time) to dinner. The tension builds to a moment when Billie (in front of the work friends and his girlfriend) explodes on Pete. Billie even brings the children into the middle of the conflict so she can prove her point. 

Billie and Pete decide to spend some time apart over the next couple days. Billie has her excursion with the attractive European ski instructor while Pete has an awkward day with the kids who feel he abandoned them. Pete takes his solo day to ski with his work friend, resulting in an afternoon of drinking heavily. 

Ultimately, the movie ends with Billie faking an injury on a ski slope, enabling Pete to play the hero. Billie does this so the children will see him in a better light going forward, but she warns Pete that he needs to be a better husband and father. Right before the end of the movie, as they're packing a car outside the resort, some snow from the roof falls, splitting the couple. There's an intense stare between the couple before it cuts to black.

That's it. That is the movie. Outside of the Americans-abroad-dealing-with-wacky-Europeans comedy, there really aren't many laughs to be had. As I left the theater, I heard several people say how disappointed they were with the film, which is reflected in that 'D' Cinema score above, as well as the horrific audience score. Personally, I wanted more from this film and was left quite unsatisfied.