Female Film Critics 24/375
Seeking to revive enchantment, this new, animated Disney fantasy is set in suburban New Mushroomton, populated by mythical creatures: scavenging unicorns, punky motorcycle-riding pixies and pointy-eared elves – like angst-riddled Ian Lightfoot, who yearns for a connection with his father who died of cancer before he was born.
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Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell star a tepid remake of Ruben Ostlund’s emotionally eviscerating Force Majeure, Sweden’s Academy Award Foreign Language entry in 2014.
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During this year’s Academy Awards, the presenter pairing of Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus provided a hilarious highlight, with the beloved performers using their wit and timing to transform dubious content into comedy gold. Knowing just how funny they can be together makes their largely laugh-free pairing in the dark comedy Downhill even more of a drag.
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Too often Hollywood convinces itself that an impressive foreign film should be remade, the potential financial gain so irresistible. Unfortunately, the remakes usually pale by comparison for many reasons: social context differences or the U.S. version fails to capture the vivid essence of the original. Sadly, that is the blunder writ large for Downhill, a disastrous reboot of Force Majeure.
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