Force Majeure (2014)

Wonderful Movie

Fresh and Exciting

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Not ever a movie brought such strong matter for debate. For sure many couples will do it after watching this food for thought movie in which everyone is invited to take a stand and eventually imagine oneself in both sides of the situation. It's a powerful movie in the sense that after laying out a simple, plain holiday family story, needs only a 20 seconds scene in which the absence of an expected attitude from the husband is enough to undermine the grounds of a marriage and therefor totally change the course of the holiday and possibly the entire future of that family. After the "little" incident everything appears normal again but a fly in the ointment becomes more and more visible and the issue can no longer be put aside for the sake of convenience. Everything changed because one of the most elemental bricks in a marriage - trust - ceases to exist. What to do then? The unfolding of the before versus the after is very interesting to watch, specially the aftermath of the incident in which the lowest point is reached when an overwhelming scene of total inner desperation is magnificently presented, laying totally open for display the wound of the abyss of that lost human being who can no longer put himself up for life. A heartbreaking moment of child tenderness and its participation against the implosion of that marriage is beautifully set, being the girl the last resort for keeping the ties when she practically demands that the mother consoles her father. A negative point is the length of the movie and the superfluous 2 further scenes. Despite bringing ambiguity and richer facets to the matter of the film, they however weaken an already autonomous story that can perfectly live by itself.

Quite frankly, this was the worst film I have ever seen. It is so bad that I am writing my first review to help people avoid the mistake I made. Everyone in my environment who watch the movie were very disappointed too, and some had to re-sell it immediately. Seriously, I think people that are giving high marks to this film are trolling. The movie basically pictures a family in a sky resort, and when they are in the cafeteria, an avalanche occurs. The man of the family got scared and ran away. The rest of the movie is just about the wife complaining on him for running away instead of staying with his family. That's it. Nothing else. You can try to see more and describe it with deep and eloquent words, but the film is quite bad. You are warned! The photography is beautiful, though.

A different movie experience This film addresses both gender roles, intercourse issues and how to deal with crises. The movie is good, but demanding to watch. The actors do a great job, especially the main actors as the couple who are really put to the test. When I saw this movie it is easy to think how one would react in different situations. For example, it's a little odd to me that the husband getting faster and clearly confronted by his wife. But she tries in her own way. The tension rises between them. The film therefore also provides insights into reactions and how people handle unpleasant episodes in close relationships. There is no fuss on such, but this couple is not good at it, to express it in one way. The score are also used very effective. The film is slow and a well-performed movie drama

. . . as it led to the job termination of Ima Hogg, USA TODAY's final full-time film critic, and perhaps America's last major print media movie reviewer. Ms. Hogg's career suicide kicked off when she included FORCE MAJEURE on her 2014 "Top Ten" listing. To make room for FORCE MAJEURE, Ms. Hogg had to leave such Crowd Pleasers as AMER!CAN SNIPER, MOCKINGJAY, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, CAPTAIN AMER!CA: WINTER SOLDIER, and THE LEGO MOVIE off her Top Ten Honor Roll. "What's wrong with that?" you might argue, "Everyone's entitled to her own opinion!" Reading between the lines, what vexed the brass at USA TODAY and many other major media outlets with female "film critics" was their consistent string of superlatives heaped upon FORCE MAJEURE as it penetrated the film fest circuit from Cannes to Canada. Sometimes Payola can take the form of a Booty Call in the arms of some Swedish PR Flac dude built like Thor. Otherwise, no one in her right mind would put MAJEURE's yawner of a Swedish Meatball in their top 250 flicks-of-the-year list, let alone within sniffing distance of Top Ten Anything. If made by Americans, the only distinction coming the way of FORCE MAJEURE would have been multiple Razzie Awards.