Force Majeure

Parental Rating: R

Contains: Language    Nudity    Adult Content    

Jill's Review

Opens August 15, 2014

Runs 118 minutes

A Swedish family is on a ski vacation in the French Alps. One day at lunch, an avalanche begins hurtling down the mountain toward the family. The Mother grabs her two children and yells for her husband as she tries to protect them from potential disaster. Of course, she looks up just in time to see her husband running for his life, with little concern for his family.  After the incident is over and it seems to be much ado about nothing, the Mother can't seem to get past the Husband's utter disregard for his family in the face of imminent danger. He was all about saving himself. The rest of the vacation consists of pointed conversations and sly jabs at the husband as he tries to regain his status as patriarch of the family. 

This is billed as a comedy and on paper it sounds like it could be a funny premise for a movie. But, this movie is not really funny, per se. It is darkly humorous in a subversive way. The wife is very bitter and takes it out on the husband. She jabs at him and makes comments that he is sure to overhear. We see the reactions of others as they observe the situation between the couple. This movie is a darling of the critics. It won the Jury prize at Cannes. I didn't think it was great. It was good. It is on a lot of critics best of 2014 lists. Not mine. Alhough, it was one of the better foreign films I saw. If you like foreign films and want to see something that may be in the discussion come Oscar time, this might be for you.

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