First Hit: Despite an excellent performance by Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Billie, this film goes downhill because of Will Ferrell as Pete.
Most of you who have read this blog know that I’m not a big Will Ferrell fan. It was in this film that he shows how incapable he is of showing a depth of character. He had the opportunity to show real wisdom in this role, and with a partner like Louis-Dreyfus, who serves as an incredible, intense foil in this film, he didn’t show up. Just as he didn’t show up as the character struggling about his marriage in this film.
The story is about Billie, Pete, and their two sons Finn and Emerson, on a once in lifetime ski trip in the Alps. There is a slight tension as they check into the hotel revealed by Billie’s tense facial expressions.
As the film wears on, there are moments when this tension subsides momentarily, but the marital discord becomes clear when Billie has to keep reminding Pete to get off the phone and quit texting his workmate Zach (Zach Woods) and Zach’s new girlfriend Rosie (Zoe Chao). You get the sense that he’s jealous of Zach.
When a controlled avalanche barrels down on the lodge deck where they are sitting down to eat, Pete runs away from his family out of panic. Leaving Billie to wrap her arms around Finn and Emerson protecting them from the snow crashing around them.
Pete’s running away becomes the elephant in the room until they have cocktails with Rosie and Zach. Billie tells the story, and Pete tries to defend his behavior, which erupts into a huge fight bringing their marriage issues to the table.
Here is where Ferrell’s failings as a dramatic actor come to fore. When the camera focuses on him and the expression in his narrowly spaced eyes, there isn’t much at home. He’s like a child, and the audience realizes what Billie has been dealing with, raising three children, not two.
As a side note, this is a remake of “Force Majeure”, a film I saw in 2014, which was better in many ways.
Louis-Dreyfus is fantastic in this film. I’ve never seen her act in a dramatic role, and she excels here. She has a very expressive face, and it tells the story as you need to know it. Ferrell is like a man child. He has minimal range, and his previous role as an overgrown santa helper in Elf, probably fits him perfectly. Miranda Otto (Charlotte), as the hotel representative who tries to give Billie advice about living her life more fully, is hilarious. Jesse Armstrong and Nat Faxon wrote a good screenplay. Faxon directed the film, and despite Ferrell’s inability to put depth into his role, the rest of the film was terrific.
Overall: I was severely disappointed in the way Ferrell’s performance hurt this movie.