Review: ‘Downhill,’ a movie all too reflective of its name

Featured image photo courtesy of MCT campus 

Rarely does a movie’s title serve as an indicator of quality. Sure, “Snakes on a Plane” doesn’t sound like an Oscar-worthy production, but viewers actually had to see the movie to know it was crummy. In the case of “Downhill,” starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell, one glance at the title and you know all you need to know: it’s all downhill from here. 

The movie revolves around an American family on vacation in the Austrian Alps — the screensaver-esque backgrounds of snowy mountains and blue skies was a harsh contrast to the dismal acting and nonexistent plotline. The conversations between characters were reminiscent of polite small talk between two strangers standing in line next to each other at the grocery store. 

Will Ferrell’s usually comedic demeanor takes a backseat as his character unconvincingly struggles to overcome a lack of affection for his family. During a family lunch on a mountain-side restaurant, there’s an avalanche and, instead of taking cover of his two sons like his wife does, he runs away. In ski boots, nonetheless. 

This incident takes place early on in the movie, leaving the last hour and 26 minutes dedicated to Ferrell attempting to get back into his family’s good graces. The only problem is his negligence of the incident — he doesn’t have the same intense reaction as his wife Billie (Louis-Dreyfus), which creates tension between the two. 

Billie feels like her husband doesn’t care enough about the family, especially since he spends all his time texting a work friend and booked their family getaway at a couples resort instead of the family-oriented resort just down the road. The plotline of a married couple having to work through their issues is mundane and only really works when its leads are Adam Driver and Scarlett Johanssen, in Oscar-nominated “Marriage Story”. 

There are random, minor characters thrown in who did nothing to stop my consideration of leaving the movie 20 minutes in — there’s no need for a spunky hotel manager who pops up at odd moments to spice up the movie or Ferrell’s work friend who’s also vacationing in Europe at the same time. Instead of contributing to the movie, they only made me want to theater-hop to whatever was playing next door. 

The three-minute exchange between the hotel manager and the couple at the beginning of the movie was filled with more silence than talking. What’s the point of that? And Ferrell’s work friend is only good for throwing out excuses for why Ferrell’s character abandoned his family during the avalanche, like anyone was going to believe he was actually running away to get help. 

We all know it was survival instinct kicking in and a 10-minute-long scene discussing possible motives was boring and unnecessary. Just apologize and move on. 

There was no big moment of revelation where Ferrell and Louis-Dreyfus pinpointed their issues and resolved to work on their relationship — leading to a feeling of unfulfillment on the viewer’s end. Instead the movie remains stagnant and never comes to any point of rising action or a climax. 

All I can say is: thank God I’m an AMC Stubs A-List member and didn’t have to pay for my ticket.