OK, I'm a sucker for this type of film. I know it's something we have all seen a million times, but, darn it - we NEED this type of movie.
Yeah, yeah, yeah
the story line's predictable: idyllic local winter ski haven (Bull Mountain) is under threat by a big-business tycoon's (Lee Majors) plans for turning it into a high rollers' resort town. And, yeah, yeah, yeah
the subplot is equally original: boy loses girl, boy wants girl back, girl has fiancé, boy must go through trials and tribulations to win girl back, etcetera, etcetera, ad nauseum. Add a few crass scenarios, a big-breasted beauty (Victoria Silvstedt), beer and you've got yourself another boring teen-sex comedy. Right? Not so fast, partner.
Out Cold joins the ranks of other great teen comedies (Animal House, Better Off Dead, Caddyshack, and the hundreds of others) in its magical ability to stop time if just for a moment. Like its predecessors, Out Cold captures that youthful time when friends surround us, we are having the time of our lives and the party never seems like it is going to end. Those are our `rites of passage' years - generally, between the ages of 16-25 - nine very short years.
Out Cold takes place in the fictional tiny-town of Bull Mountain, Colorado - elevation 10,000 feet a winter wonderland of snow, skiing and snowboarding. A place where there's always fluffy powder to plow through and a hilarious friend is at every corner you turn. There's always the local pub to chill in after a hard day of playing the characters in these movies all have jobs but no one seems to work. Loneliness is not an option. That's what makes this movie (these movies) great.
Out Cold isn't just about gross-out gags with guys running around trying to get laid, it's about the escapism that these films offer. Even if you've never experienced the perfect winter or summer vacation even if you've never gone to that ivy-league school where no student has homework even if you've only dreamt about spending time at exotic locales with fun in the sun/snow this is the reason why we NEED this type of movie. If only for ninety minutes, these movies offer a fantasy or nice remembrances of times gone by (or, to come.)
For all of you naysayers out there who pooh-pooh this film on the account of its wonderfully juvenile content, I say, `Go see Harry Potter, you bombastic moralist and leave me alone!'
