Downhill

By: Maggie Stankiewicz

Downhill was at a disadvantage from the starting gate, as remakes often generate a certain amount of anticipatory disdain. But Nat Faxon and Jim Rash do their best to pull viewers in to this dark comedy about a disintegrating marriage. This Americanized version of acclaimed Swedish film Force Majeure follows a strained family on a European vacation that puts their problems under an icy microscope. The movie, also written by Faxon, Rash and Jesse Armstrong, does a good job at establishing its central characters Billie and Peter as unhappy suburbanites unable to get themselves back on track. This lends itself to the film’s themes of holding on when it’s time to let go and the lies we tell ourselves as we cling to complacency. Downhill is a good film when comparisons to its source material are avoided. Funny, rueful and at times uncomfortable, Downhill is sure to be the top unromantic comedy of the Valentine’s season.

Billie (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Pete (Will Ferrell) have two beautiful children – Finn (Julian Grey) and Emerson (Ammon Jacob Ford). They also have years (at the very least months) of unexpressed resentment towards each other. The rift between them has been growing ever since Pete’s father died several months prior. It can only be assumed that Billie checked out of their marriage the moment Peter adopted the phrase “every day is all we have.” In a desperate attempt to quell Pete’s lingering grief and fill in the growing space between them, they book a ski vacation to the French Alps. Not long into their trip an avalanche threatens the resort guests (or so they think). While Billie corals the children and prepares to go down protecting her family, Pete grabs his phone and runs away from the danger leaving his family do die alone in a powdery maelstrom.

The avalanche turns out to be a controlled event, but the damage is done. Pete has revealed himself to be a selfish, phone-addicted nitwit – something Billie just can’t get over. The following few days are fueled by passive aggression, rage, regret and a growing sense of discomfort for both the central family and viewers. Billie and Pete go on something of a trial separation over the course of their vacation. Billie goes off for a day of solo-fun with a handsome ski instructor Guglielmo (Giulio Berruti). Pete torments his children and, eventually, meets up with his co-worker Zach (Zach Woods) to get drunk and commiserate. This is where Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell do their best work – walking the tightrope of being utterly unlikable characters for whom the audience still holds an interest in. Billie is controlling. Peter is selfish. Neither are great people, but they still deserve better than their stale relationship.

Downhill is full of other extraneous characters strewn throughout the narrative with the sole purpose of entertaining or enlightening – sometimes both at once. Charlotte (Miranda Otto), a resort employee with a lascivious and carefree attitude, shines as the film’s most blatant comedic relief injecting the film with humor in the times it is more dark than comedy. Pete and Billie’s foils Zach and Rosie (Zoe Chao) also do a nice job at carrying some of the film’s narrative, highlighting Pete’s obsession with himself and others when he should be focusing on his family. At times these peripheral characters are more likable than Billie and Pete – a perfect juxtaposition at just how bad the two are for one another.

This is a movie worth watching if you’re in the mood for a comedy that doesn’t have a neat and tidy ending. The real humor in Downhill is in the voyeurism of it all – the audience can so clearly see what the characters who are living it cannot and the irony of the situation will at the very least elicit a small chuckle. Full of solid performances, both comedic and dramatic, Downhill is a messy little bundle of irreverence full of familiar faces, feigned accents and one disaster of a family.