I should have known when I read "a fantastic snow-mantic comedy" that I was in for quite the cinematic treat. Romantic comedies may come just as sappy, but none come quite as painfully dull as "Chalet Girl".
Set in the picturesque French Alps, the film follows Kim Matthews, a young girl who's fall from grace in the skateboarding world leads her to plot an unexpected comeback as a snowboarder. Throw in a cheap love interest and some cutting edge snowboarding montages set to whatever is on "NOW Vol. 75" these days and you have "Chalet Girl". The cast is pretty much all over the place; you may recognize Ed Westwick of "Gossip Girl" fame, and of course there's the forever-drab Brooke Shields who appears for all of a couple scenes. Yet, the remainder of the cast consists of mainly up-and-coming young UK talent, although I use the term "talent" quite loosely.
There are moments in the film in which I was reminded heavily of X-treme sports films of yore, mainly "Point Break" and "Thrashin", but the main difference being that those films were centered more around the sport itself rather than a romantic interest. Perhaps one day people will look back fondly at "Chalet Girl" with the same nostalgic fervor as "Point Break", but more than likely it will simply be forgotten in time...at least I hope so. I am still reeling from the ending to be frank, and ending so absurdly cheesy, I had to rewind just to make sure I hadn't missed something.
Amidst the terribly predictable story arch and vapid lead characters exists a rather positive manage. I suppose when you're trying to corner the tween demographic it's important to at least have some remnants of inspirational support, you know stuff like: facing adversity, overcoming life obstacles, and winning the dream boy for yourself. "Chalet Girl" is your typical romantic comedy faire, which ultimately means that I was underwhelmed throughout, but I could see this film perfectly complementing a teenage slumber party.
The DVD special features are about as ho-hum as the movie itself. Playing into the hands of it's younger demographic there is (unsurprisingly) a section of viral videos and the standard behind the scenes material. There is a commentary also included as well as a look at trailers for films that look just as bad, if not worse, than "Chalet Girl" itself.
Film: 2 Yaps Extras: 2 Yaps