I hate it when
you watch a movie and it just doesn't quite sink in. That, sadly is my
story with Ski School. As you can probably tell from my other reviews,
I am a big fan of Dean Cameron, and it took me while to find this movie
(this was before the DVD release), and I had it for months before
watching it. The weird thing is, I watched it, I know I really liked
it, but it just hasn't sank in enough for me to figure out why.
The story is your classic party animals vs. preppies and/or authority
figure setup, which is always a great formula for a comedy movie in my
opinion. Then again, I think Test Tube Teens from the Year 2000 is one
of the great cinematic masterpieces of our time, so what do I know?
The Ski teams on Whistler Mountain are separated into Sections one
through eight. Section One, led by obnoxious rich kid Reid Janssens,
are the best on the mountain, especially if you ask them. Section 8
however which is led by the incomparable party animal/ski genius Dave
Marshak, well they are more interested in getting drunk and checking
out babes than skiing.
The Ski Resort manager has it in for Dave in a big way and will do
anything to get him off the mountain for good. he also happens to be
very good friends with Reid, who somehow has some sort of stake in the
Mountains financial wellbeing and plans to profit from its sale to a
very attractive rich woman, who for some reason thinks a mountain would
be a great business acquisition.*
*I am well aware that there is very likely a good explanation for the
sale of the ski resort, and Reid's financial stake, but I was just
honestly not paying that much attention to the inane details. It was
more like blah blah blah, sell the resort, blah blah blah, chick with
big boobs, blah blah blah, back to Dean Cameron! Hooray!
Anywhoo, threatened with being ejected from the mountain, Section 8
decide its in their best interest to win the ski competition, and with
Reid passing on talented newcomer Johnny out of pure ego, Section 8
snap him up and take the fight to Section 1. That is, after a few more
beers.
The rest of the movie is really a mish-mash of practical jokes,
parties, nakedness, shady dealings from the bad guy richies and
elaborate plans from our friendly party animals to get back at them.
It's a lot of dumb fun, and the scenes with Daven and Fitz (Stuart
Fratkin...Styles!!) are so damn hilarious that you know most of it had
to be ad-libbed. Its nice to see Patrick Labyorteaux (Ed) and Dean
Cameron in another movie together and he fit flawlessly into the
Section 8 group.
Johnny Roland (Tom Bresnahan) on the other hand, did not. And therein
lies one of my biggest problems with this movie. Roland was the star
skier in this flick - the guy responsible for it all coming together,
the guy that would save the mountain etc etc, but there was practically
no bond with Section 8, who he was skiing for. His scenes with Dave and
Fitz seem very artificial and forced, and in fact there aren't even
that many of them. Dave, being the instructor and lead campaigner for
Section 8's party loving way of life should have had a more pivotal
role in securing its future.
While the rest of Section 8 were genuinely funny and likable, I wanted
to punch Johnny in the face. First he likes this cute little blonde,
and gets her in bed with little to no effort. Then he decides to screw
the business woman who's buying the mountain, and wonders why blondie
is upset. What a douche bag. Your beer chugging college viewers might
be applauding his conquests, but to your average movie watcher, he just
looks like a complete asshole. The fact that Bresnahan was clearly
trying his best to play a straight character unnecessarily in a comedy
movie, doesn't help his cause either. You can't be the broody loner and
be part of a group - it was just never going to work. Ham it up a
little Bresnahan! For gods sake this aint Schindlers List!
Ski School was a lot of fun, largely due to the comedic chemistry
between Fratkin and Cameron, and would have been a lot better if
Bresnahan hadn't made the movie feel so disjointed. I'll give it a
second watch, if not just for helium theater.
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Year: 1991
