Fox Searchlight Film Review - Downhill

Pete Stanton (Will Ferrell) is grieving the loss of his father eight month prior. To get away from familiar surroundings he brings his family, Attorney wife Billie (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and sons the sporty Finn (Julian Grey) and more sensitive Emerson (Ammon Jacob Ford) on a ski vacation in the Austrian Alps. The first sign of the family's jarring vibe occurs in the very first scene when they are having their pictures taken on the mountain by a local photographer who seems to be mocking them. Later it appears that Finn and Emerson are the only children at the resort with there being a more kid friendly option down the road. Why didn't dad Pete pick it and why didn't attorney Billie know about it? Plus Pete is distant from his family taking every spare moment to check the Instagram exploits of his no agenda having younger co-worker Zach (Zach Woods) and his free spirited girlfriend Rosie (Zoe Chao) who are blazing their way across the region.

The key event of the film is a not so controlled avalanche that buries an outdoor eating area where the Stantons are having lunch. Billie and the kids trapped between the railing and the picnic table are forced to shelter in place while their last vision of their father is him jumping up fleeing the scene only to return after the event acting as if nothing happened.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus does her best to rescue this muddled offering that based on its casting made a concerted effort to be different than its dark inspirational predecessor Ruben Ostlund's 2014 Force Majeure. However, the Nat Faxon and Jim Rash directed remake doesn't go far enough to the comedy side resulting in a film that is stuck in the non-committal middle. Miranda Otto offers some minor laughs as the Stanton's oversexed resort liaison Charlotte. Will Ferrell seems caught between being dramatic going though grief for his dad then guilt for abandoning his family at a time of need. Then in the next moment playing the goofy dad bearing down on his more sensitive son ruining the boys one day at the kid-friendly resort.

Downhill is a misfire attempt to Americanize the emotionally tense Swedish source material that was one of the more beloved films of 2014. The Stantons come across often as the ugly American tourists throwing their weight around expecting local Austrian culture, traditions and practices to be exactly the same as back home.  The narrative is often telegraphed offering no new insightful twist on the original making it a film that outside of Louis-Dreyfus and some pleasing shots of the Alps from cinematographer Danny Cohen's lens having not much else to draw an audience to this production.

** Out of 4.

Downhill | Nat Faxon / Jim Rash | U.S.A. | 2020 | 86 Minutes.

Tags: Austria, Alps, Remake, Skiing, Vacation, Avalanche, Instagram, Chairlifts, Grief, Morning, Hashtags.