REACH FOR
Pitch-black laughs among snowy peaks
DOWNHILL didn’t go down very well in America.
Although you have to wonder why Disney (who inherited the film after buying out Fox Searchlight) decided to market a pitch-black comedy-drama as a Valentine’s movie.
As it’s a remake of the Swedish film Force Majeure, it didn’t get much love from the critics either. They bemoaned the US public’s lack of love for European arthouse cinema. Hopefully, the less romantic UK scheduling will have set it up a little better over here. The promotional poster is a little deceptive as the sight of Ron Burgundy in salopettes promises a raunchy riot of pratfalls and zingy one-liners.
There are laughs, but most of them are intentionally uncomfortable.
Will Ferrell and a quite brilliant Julia LouisDreyfus play Pete and Billie, a wealthy couple on a pricey skiing holiday in the Austrian Alps with their two sons.
An understated first act lets us see the little cracks in their otherwise happy marriage.
To the frustration of his wife and kids, Pete has selfishly booked the family into a swishy hotel aimed at adults (the family resort is a couple of miles away).
Pete lost his father eight months ago and has emerged from the grieving process with an annoyingly cheesy mantra: “Every day is all we have”.
Billie’s strained smile speaks volumes. She’ll cut him some slack for now, but she’s almost at the end of her tether.
Things grow even more tense after a scary incident at a café. To clear a heavy snowfall from the slopes, the resort has set off a small avalanche.
The family watch with rising terror from the balcony as snow cascades towards them.
When it smashes into the balcony she protects her boys while Pete, who isn’t stuck between the table and a wall, scarpers.
Is this cowardice or instinct? Can we even make moral decisions in moments of life and death? Refreshingly, the film doesn’t look for easy answers.
Nobody is hurt, although Pete won’t acknowledge his disappearing act. He needs to see himself as a protective father, but knows his wife and children are looking at him differently.
It can be an uncomfortable watch but the writers make sure to cut the tension with sharp