Chalet Girl (2011) Reviews

• Predictable Yet Very Enjoyable Rom-Com

  moossaboossa2011-10-07

  It's rare that when watching a chick flick, I find myself laughing out of genuine humour: but such was the case in Chalet Girl. Not only does it boast a pleasingly sarcastic dialogue and delightfully witty characters, but it offers just the right amount of romance and cheese to avoid 93 minutes of cringing. The story was very uplifting, albeit predictable, and the photography was worthy of a gasp or two. Set in the beautiful Austrian alps, this movie contained the perfect ingredients for a light and enjoyable flick: humour, romance, dramatic twist and happy ending. Perhaps it's not Oscar worthy, but it's certainly worth an hour and a half of your time.

• Amazingly predictable but watchable all the same

  Red-Barracuda2011-03-25

  There surely can't be too many people who come away from Chalet Girl saying that it didn't deliver what they expected it to. It's almost charmingly clichéd and completely predictable at every moment. Whether or not this will bother you or not is entirely down to your tolerance for the romantic-comedy genre. I personally would classify it as a perfectly watchable movie; although it is 100% unremarkable. Its main angle I suppose is its setting. The Alps are very beautiful and this doesn't harm the film. The snowboarding part is dealt with in a relatively minor way, as the main thrust of the plot is of the comic and romantic kind - the snobbishness of skiers, the almost angelic goodness of the boarders, the tart with a heart, the posh boy who falls for the chalet girl, etc etc. It's all very one dimensional, although it does have to be said that leading actress Felicity Jones does make for a good enough principal girl; however, her male counterpart Ed Westwick did seem very wooden to me. And I still can't fathom why they went to the trouble of hiring a skilled comedian like Bill Bailey when all his character amounts to is a man who can't cook his dinner. At the end of the day Chalet Girl is a chick-flick with snowboards. There's nothing new here but I've also seen Snowboard Academy, and that film makes this one seem like The Godfather by comparison. So there's a positive note to end this on.

• I wanted to hate this

  nickmorgan022011-02-27

  I wanted to hate this, I really did. I'm on the sharp end of a divorce so going into a romantic comedy for me, well it's like a vegan booking an abattoir weekend. I was strong-armed into a preview show under the notion that it was Cinderella on a Snowboard and to a certain extent this is correct, Kim (Felicity Jones) is a downtrodden burger-queen-teen with zero prospects trapped in a co-dependent rut with her culinary incompetent dad (Bill Bailey) and nursing grief for her mother - who died in a car crash. In a series of unlikely twists Kim lands a job as a Chalet Girl with super-rich family in beautiful Austria, enter Prince Charming (lush Ed Westwick) who is – horror show – engaged to somebody he like – so completely – doesn't love. While romance runs its roller-coaster course Kim learns to snowboard and finds she's gifted – well to a point – because the psychological scaring of her mum's death holds her back from winning the local boarding trophy – and a very useful cash prize. While the set-up is pure Cinderella the execution is all Rocky. As Kim was fighting the odds I found myself rooting for her: when she crashed in the snow I felt her pain and when she got up and faced her demons I felt her determination, god I even cried at one point – in a quiet manly way. There are plenty of clichés: including a tart who – guess what – grows a heart, but despite all of that I just found myself going along with it. No, not just going along with it, but loving it. The success is partly down to a script that punches well above its weight: the sharp banter runs like this: Posh Richard (Bill Nighy): (pointing at a helicopter) You ever been in one of these things? Kim: (impressed but ultra-cool) Yeah, we have one at home. This one's pretty small actually. Posh Richard: Do we pay extra for irony? Kim: No, the irony's free, it's the sarcasm you're paying for. Ironically... But the success is mostly down to Felicity Jones - she's hardly off screen and start-to-finish she oozes a hypnotic charm that wraps itself around you from go. Then there's the scenery too. The snow and chalet scenes are shot in Austria, in particular St Anton where 'The Museum' is used for exterior shots of the posh chalet – well, they are stunning. Between the location, Felicity and even (strangely enough) Ed Westwick I left the cinema with my love for humanity and indeed the world in much better shape than when I went in. I'm still being divorced of course, but after the film I feel slightly better about the process.

• Predictable storyline but unmissable

  nicole_ward2011-03-30

  Went to see this film with a friend as I love Ed Westwick. The film itself looked good however I did not expect it to be as good as it was. The storyline is very typical however the script has been written very well. It is so nice to have a new English film out once in a while instead of American. I do love American films but the humour is not as great as English. Chalet girl is a great film without being over the top. It is not cheesy and has great characters to follow. This film is great throughout and I recommend people go and watch it; even guys as it is not just a girl chick flick film. With the great actors and great script this film is overall fantastic and should be watched by all.

• Fun loving simple sports romance

  saadgkhan2012-05-08

  Chalet Girl – CATCH IT (B) Chalet girl is a story about a former skateboard champion who after a tragic death of her mother living a life in anonymity. To make more money she joins the elite posh servicing company which sends her off to Austria. The movie is really light and fun loving. There are no hardcore dramatic scenes, and in the backdrop of snowboarding we see a love story of a normal girl falling for rich guy. Felicity Jones did a fine job playing tomboy girl falling for British lad Ed Westwick. Ed Westwick, the infamous Chuck Bass from Gossip Girl was impressive, losing all that aggressive American tone. Tamsin Edgerton, Georgia King and German Lad Ken Duken have some really fun moments in the movie. Brooke Shields, Sophia Bush, Nicholas Braun and Bill Nighy are good in their respective parts. Overall, it's an enjoyable British movie for sports and romance fans.