WHETHER IT’S AS excitable Buddy in Elf, immature Brennan in Step Brothers or self-obsessed Ron Burgundy in Anchorman, Will Ferrell is known for his light-hearted, comedic roles.
In Downhill, a new Searchlight Pictures film, however, Ferrell adds a different genre to his filmography – dark relationship comedy. Directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, Downhill is an American remake of the 2014 Swedish film Force Majeure.
Ferrell stars alongside Seinfeld actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus as married couple Pete and Billie Staunton. The pair travel to the Alps with their twin sons as Pete comes to terms with his father’s death – but it doesn’t turn out to be the enjoyable holiday they had hoped for.
“You lose a parent and the ticking gets louder,” Pete tells another couple. “Every day is all we have.” And when an avalanche comes thundering towards the family as they’re having lunch, the Stauntons experience this first-hand.
But, rather than giving Billie and Pete a lust for life, the experience instead throws their marriage into complete disarray after Pete grabs his phone and runs away from the impending disaster – leaving Billie and his children in his wake.
Digging himself further into a hole, Pete tries to excuse his selfish reaction by saying he “ran to get help.” Needless to say, the event forces the couple to re-evaluate their lives – and how they feel about each other.
A more intense role for Ferrell than his usual endeavors, he said that taking on the project “was the perfect creative thing to do at this point in my life.”
“It just felt like it was a great group of people,” he told Vox. “It was so much fun. It was super hard at times, physically, mentally, all of the above. But wow, it was just one of the cooler things I’ll ever get to work on.”
Want to see Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus in action? Downhill comes to cinemas today, February 28. Book tickets to see it at your local cinema here.
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