Set during a family skiing holiday in the Alps, Downhill is an oddly misfiring film. Casting Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell against their perceived on-screen personas is an intriguing idea but one that seems misguided with the lack of character development available in the incomplete script.
During the holiday, Pete Staunton (Ferrell) when faced with a potentially dangerous situation, acts in a cowardly fashion. His motives or the cause of this digression is never fully explained, either through backstory or in the ongoing storyline. A previous family tragedy is mentioned but never fully explained. The gap this causes is quite noticeable.
Even though Ferrell plays someone who seems emotionally damaged, his wooden and reserved delivery gives very few clues as to why. His wife Billie (Louis-Dreyfus) becomes even more distant and the two seem to share very little common ground as a couple or as the loving parents of their two young boys. This situation seems to have existed long before the holiday got underway.
Not having seen the Swedish, French, Norwegian film, Force Majeure, that Downhill attempts to recreate, it’s open for debate if that experience might have helped provide the necessary information to aid in deciphering the character’s actions and motivations. As it is, those omissions prevent one from being fully immersed in the actions and trajectory of the players in this new version.
Rob Hudson
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