Downhill: Good Story But Unlikeable Characters

Downhill is a remake of a Swedish film called Force Majeure from 2014. A family is on a skiing vacation and the parents are Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Their marriage is doing ok at that point but after a traumatic event Will Ferrell does something the puts strain and distance between him and his family. The movie wants you to feel bad for Julia at first and later Will, but both main characters aren’t necessarily likable.

While Julia was wronged she is nagging and passive aggressive as a person. Will is definitely not likable. While on vacation he is constantly on his phone, he ignores Julie and doesn’t defend her in public conversations and situations. The movie tries to make the audience feel bad for Will because his father passed away and he’s going through some sort of midlife crisis but right from the beginning the dialogue between the two is uncomfortable and frustrating.

The script is a good insight into married life but once again if the characters were more likable the movie would have worked better. There might have been something lost in translation from the original Swedish movie. Downhill does make the audience think a lot about people’s perspective and who they should be rooting for, Will or Julia. 🍔🍔 and 1/2 🍔