It would be hard to believe, but Downhill is actually based on another movie entitled Force Majeure. After some quick research, I came to realize that Force has been on my Netflix watchlist for a very long time. Also, further research has shown me that the original version of this story was widely successful, holding a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.9 on IMDb.
All the praising stopped in the first paragraph. Downhill was a brutal movie to sit through. The acting felt forced, and there was little to no chemistry between Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. There isn’t enough time or effort for you to get invested in their marriage or their kids because the movie is only 1:26 long.
I went to see how bad this movie really was, and it didn’t disappoint. I understand what the writers tried to achieve here, but it didn’t work on any level. Marriage is tough, and it will never be all sunshine and rainbows. Downhill shows us how one incident or one week can severely impact a relationship for years to come. Really all we see here is a glimpse of the efforts it takes to make a marriage successful.
I haven’t seen Force Majeure yet. If I had to recommend either that film or Downhill, I would say invest your time in the latter. That is saying a lot considering I haven’t even seen it yet. 1/10
Ten Stars or Less 