Review by Stephanie Stevens
Stars Felcity Jones, Ed Westwick, Tamsin Egerton, Ken Duken, Bill Nighy, Sophia Bush,
Brooke Shields, Bill Bailey, Abbie Dunn, Georgia King, Patrick Finger | Written by Tom Williams
UK certification 12 | UK RRP £19.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 96 minutes | Directed by Phil Traill
Chalet Girl is a Cinderella story on skis, or more precisely a snowboard. A paint by numbers comedy for teenage girls everywhere, Felicity Jones has been awarded the honour of playing Kim Matthews, the awkward yet sassy teen outcast, thrown into a world of wealth and pretence after accepting a job as, you guessed it, a Chalet girl, waiting on the privileged Madsen family.
Jones obvious beauty is overlooked and instead we’re forced to accept that this is the face of the underdog. In ways Kim is. Tragedy struck years before when her mother died in a car crash, and ever since she’s been caring for her father emotionally and financially, turning her back on her glittering skateboarding career in the process. All of this is explained within the first few minutes of the feature, with the help of a cringe-worthy appearance from two T4 presenters delivering a faux segway to camera. An opening which sadly sets the tone for the rest of the movie.
While the cast carry out their duties well, each character is a carbon copy of those in every other romantic comedy aimed at the teenage population for the last decade. Writer Tom Williams believed that the snow covered mountain setting of the Alps was original enough to provide a refreshing and new angle to the genre, however it’s hard to agree. The plotline is too predictable, with Kim starting out under the oppressive eye of bitchy colleague and full-time glamour queen Georgie, who not so surprisingly softens as the movie unfolds and Kim begins to fall for the suave yet very much engaged Madsen son Jonny. However will this end!?
Chalet Girl’s heart is in the right place and at times the comedy does hold laugh out loud value, much of which can be put down to a cast that do a fantastic job with a tired script. The film paces itself well, although depends too heavily on fast cut montages. This can be forgiven whilst relaying the action out on the slopes but not whilst in the Chalet. The accompanying soundtrack is one place where the film has definitely hit the nail on the head. Each song is perfectly pitched for its moment and would appeal to the movie’s target audience. It also delivers some mildly needed relief when Kim’s past comes back to haunt her on the slopes and she has to overcome her fears to take part in a snowboarding competition.
Notable extras include an enjoyable look at the premiere, with interviews from the cast and a commentary from Director Phil Traill and Felicity Jones, the latter of which you can’t help but think would have been of more interest to younger viewers had Gossip Girl’s Ed Westwick also been involved. Overall, Chalet Girl provides some harmless escapism and light-hearted fun for the many teenage girls who will no doubt be pulled in by its cast members, however I doubt many will come back for a repeat viewing.