When I was given the assignment to review听, an adaptation of the 2014 comedy听, I felt like I had something to prove.听Downhill听is about a family ski vacation in the Alps;听it听stars Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Pete and Billie, the听husband and wife. Their trip quickly unravels after Pete听runs away during what turns out to be a controlled avalanche, abandoning his children and Billie听in what听he believes听is an actual life-or-death moment. You can imagine how that goes over.
I grew up in Florida with听few听personal reference points听for winter outdoor听activities, so I watched snow-sport movies (mostly Johnny Tsunami) with a very uncritical eye.听Now that I live in out west and ski often, I hoped听I鈥檇 finally be able to size up the moves in听this ski movie. Alas, I left Downhill with even more questions than I went in with鈥攊t seems that knowing anything about skiing makes seeing Hollywood鈥檚 version of the sport听a truly distressing experience. Downhill听has all the makings of a听flop: it 听on听its听opening听weekend (Sonic the Hedgehog听made $70 million that same weekend), and critics have already complained about the 听and . I would like to zero in on one particularly incoherent plot point: What is going on with the depiction of skiing听in Downhill?
Am I to believe that Ferrell and Louis-Dreyfus have excellent form and can rip straight down听bumps without ever turning their torsos? Or am I to believe that they are both so bad that they must wrench their entire bodies around to make a simple turn on the world鈥檚 biggest, emptiest blue runs? Downhill would have the audience hold both of these truths at once. I鈥檓 certainly not one to judge鈥攁ctors can鈥檛 fake everything, and my own form often resembles the latter. But is there any more effective way to keep audiences distracted from the dialogue than keeping听our minds racing about which scenes involve body doubles? I鈥檓 now compelled to rewatch Johnny Tsunami to see if all听filmmakers attempt to get away with employing professional skiers and snowboarders for only half the scenes.
I can鈥檛 fully explain how听these particular skiing inconsistencies made their way into the film. (Nor can I听explain how听someone thought it was a good idea to have a character imply, in one scene, that your ski instructor is allowed to hit on you aggressively, without encouragement, as long as he鈥檚 a hot European man.)听Surely someone on the set of Downhill was an experienced skier.听Maybe its filmmakers听just figured audiences don鈥檛 really care what it looks like听because we鈥檙e all here for the funny famous actors anyway. But听I鈥檓 also听going to chalk it up to the fact that filming in the Alps probably requires a very tight schedule or you鈥檒l blow your budget.听That makes my next observation additionally confusing:听I鈥檓 convinced that some of the sweeping scenes of Pete and Billie听shredding were听computer generated. There are moments when they move in such a stiff, unnatural, yet听weirdly smooth fashion that I could not shake the feeling I was watching an animated approximation of the sport.听At听the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, I know something鈥檚 off when I see it.
That said, the filmmakers don鈥檛听get everything wrong.听They seem to get the gear situation, at least. This is a well-to-do family that goes on regular听ski vacations at resorts and, accordingly, everyone听wears very nice, new-looking puffies (Ferrell conspicuously flashes a Salomon logo throughout most of the movie) and slightly tight snow pants, which seems accurate enough. There鈥檚 also a helpful PSA written into the script about how听knit hats are not helmets and do not fit under helmets, people!听
Should you see this movie? That depends.听If you鈥檙e looking for something light and you like Julia Louis-Dreyfus, you will probably have a good听time. If you saw and loved Force Majeure, as听 did, you may find yourself suffering from听鈥渢he original is better鈥 syndrome, and you will probably not have a very good time. You may also have issues with Downhill if, like me, you are judgmental of fictional characters鈥櫶齜ad decisions听(I鈥檇 never !)听or听if you听still believe one鈥檚 significant other should听communicate and acknowledge wrongs, especially if they abandon you in the middle of an apparent avalanche. Ferrell and Louis-Dreyfus are still funny actors who shine in drawn-out awkward conversations, but听Pete is truly the caricature of an emotionally constipated midlife-crisis husband who would rather shut down than apologize.听That鈥檚 the script鈥檚 fault and not the actor鈥檚, but it听ruined any听emotional stakes in the film for me.听
If you鈥檙e still conflicted about watching this film, consider doing it only so you can ponder the quality of skiing in the scenes听and听tell me that you鈥檙e seeing the computer-generated-images听stuff, too.