Four old school friends remind one another why they’ve not caught up in more than 20 years. Gordon is determined that he and best friend Keith will conquer Wainright’s Coast to Coast Walk from St Bees in Cumbria to Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire. He also believes that having his film student son document the adventure is the perfect way to commemorate their achievement, but when a stray conversation determines that old school friends Steve and Julian join them on the trip, best laid plans lead straight to multiple mid-life crises...

Downhill is a mockumentary that follows four old school friends who meet up over 20 years later to spend just over a week together catching up as they walk the famous Coast to Coast Walk from Cumbria to North Yorkshire.

The movie stars Richard Lumsden, Karl Theobald, Jeremy Swift and Ned Dennehy as the four very diverse individuals who have all grown up to be be very different from the childhood friends they once were. Gordon and Keith still stay in regular touch as do Steve and Julian. The original plan, by Keith, was that he and Gordon would do the walk together, but Gordon accidentally mentions it to Steve, who mentions it to Julian.

For those of us of a certain age (I'm 44 as I write this in 2014) Downhill hits the nail on the head on so many levels. There are characters here that everyone will recognise - although I have to say that Julian, who is wonderfully played by Ned Dennehy, is by far the most obnoxious drunk you'll ever encounter. At times I saw him as an older, bitterer and more believable version of Richard E. Grant's Withnail (Withnail and I).

Gordon (Richard Lumsden, who plays Ray in the radio comedy Clare in the Community) is prone to sulking when his authority is questioned and is the one member of the team who is keen to keep everyone on schedule. His son is filming the walk as part of his studies We learn that Gordon originally wanted to be a wildlife documentary filmmaker but life just got in the way and he had to give up his dreams to bring financial security to an ever growing family.

Keith (Karl Theobald) is Gordon's best friend and it was his idea to do the walk as he wanted to spend some private time with Gordon to discuss things going on in his life. Of the four characters, I felt Keith was by far the most underused, which was a shame.

Steve (Jeremy Swift) is a teacher who is a little on the unfit side. Keeping up is going to be a problem for him, and his constant whinging isn't helping matters.

Julian (Ned Dennehy) is a slimy, rude, drunk who constantly puts everyones backs up. He's not a happy man, and we never really learn what he's done with his life since leaving school.

There's some additional cringeworthy moments injected by the introduction of two young women who join the men for part of the walk. Midlife delusions set in as Julian seriously believes he is in with a chance with one of them.

As the foursome wind their way on their journey, the days are broken up by interesting animation segments, which I thought added an interesting touch.

We received a DVD-R version for review so I can't comment on any extras, or whether there even are any.

There's no happy ending, no revelations and no message - just like real life. This simply takes a snapshot of where four old friends have ended up and strengthens why they never stayed in touch as a foursome.

8

Darren Rea