‘Downhill': Safer, More Watered-Down Remake of Swedish Movie ‘Force Majeure' [Review]

Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus star in “Downhill,” which is the English-language remake of Swedish film “Force Majeure.” This American remake, directed by the duo of Nat Faxon and Jim Rash ("The Descendants," "The Way Way Back") and scripted by “Four Lions” writer, Jesse Armstrong, isn’t nearly as artful as the original, which was directed by Palme D’Or winner Ruben Ostlund.

Yes, the provoking questions “Downhill” asks, even though all derived from “Force Majeure, are timeless and incredibly relevant to today’s socio-political dynamics. Much like its foreign counterpart, “Downhill” deals with the patriarchy, and what a man's worth now means in a society that is slowly, but surely empowering women as equals; it’s the “breadwinner dilemma”, so to speak.

Telling the story of Pete (Ferrell), his wife Billie (Dreyfuss), and their chaotic, existential ski trip, Faxon and Rash’s film tackles a middle-class couple, who seem to have enough disposable income to take their two sons, Finn (Julian Grey) and Emerson (Ammon Jacob Ford), on a weeklong ski vacation in Austria. The piece de resistance moment, however, happens when Pete and Billie are shaken up on the ski vacation by a false-flagged avalanche scare which has the patriarch grabbing his phone, running for cover and leaving his family behind. This consequentially has the married couple thrown into disarray as they are forced to confront gender roles they thought were set in stone. The impact of the avalanche scene, an all-timer sequence in “Force Majeure,” is effectively portrayed in “Downhill” as well — mostly because the situational comedy, or drama, if you will, is indelibly relatable.

The notion that a man is responsible for protecting his own family is deciphered through the lense of sad and pathetic Pete. Ferrell is the major difference between the Swedish and American versions. Despite playing it straighter than usual, the comedy star manages to infuse a subtler version of his deadpan man-child humor into the script. Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, who has the difficult task of making us believe she is married to Will Ferrel, is more-than-solid here as well. Both actors bring the humanity needed to make this couple compatible and believable, somehow managing to reveal the inner scars the two have built-up over the years.

And yet, you never truly feel the same vitality that invaded every frame of Ostlund’s original. Downhill’s 86-minute runtime represents a tighter version of this story, “Force Majeure” clocked in at two hours, but it’s very hard to recommend a remake when you know that the story was done more effectively five years ago. The existential crisis of Ostlund’s original is watered down by Faxon and Rash for mainstream effect, gone are the incalculable long takes which amped up the dread in the original, ditto the biting sting of the darker humor. So let’s call out “Downhill” for what it truly is meant to be; the “safer” version of “Force Majeure,” readily available for mainstream tastes [C+]