You’d be surprised to find out that Chalet Girl is actually quite different from your average teen movie rom-com. Chalet Girl is a light hearted, humorous and inspiring story with a pinch of romance thrown in.
Chalet Girl is about an ex pro skateboarder called Kim (played by Felicity Jones) who gives up skateboarding after the tragic death of her mother. Cue years on and she’s stuck in a rut with a dead end job. Kim then gets the opportunity to work as a chalet girl and so leaves her undomesticated father for the summer to earn some money in a world a long way out of her depth!
The opportunity soon turns into more than a job however as she slowly makes new friends, begins snowboarding and becomes more than friends with someone supposedly way out of her league.
Chalet Girl follows Kim’s journey over these few months as she accepts a new lease for life – pushing herself to take that extra leap whilst trying to finally accept her mother’s death.
Kim also meets Jonny (Ed Westwick), who stays at the chalet with his family and his long-term girlfriend (Sophia Bush). Despite the fact that he is in a relationship and that he is from a whole other world then Kim, the two soon spark up a close friendship and before long Jonny is considered a love interest. However the fact that his mother pressures him into proposing to his long term girlfriend cued with his feelings for Kim means that he is portrayed as a bit of a twat!
Both Ed Westwick, and Felicity Jones act exceptionally well in this film with believable chemistry as two of the main characters. Other familiar faces in this film such as Bill Nighy, Sophia Bush and Bill Bailey also add to the brilliance of the film and have their own scenes that really make up the humour for this story. Bill Bailey is particularly hilarious as Kim’s father who cannot look after himself at all and ends up living on beans on toast when his long suffering daughter is away!
Additionally, Kim’s journey as a snowboarder in this film is also very refreshing in that, like many other sports that require you to push to the limits, snowboarding is sometimes seen as a ‘man’s sport’. Kim also meets another pro snowboarder who is female, and this is quite uplifting to watch in that females are portrayed as excellent snowboarders in this film – even better then men in some scenes!
The film delivers as many heart touching moments as it does laugh out loud moments and is very different from you’re stereotypical ‘boy-meets-girl’ movie. Instead we find ourselves associating with the character who is quite simply you’re average teenage girl trying to survive among posh girls, good-looking men and professional snowboarders. However, this down to earth girl manages to fit in (with a few mishaps along the way) and shows that where you’re from isn’t everything – it’s about who you really are inside.
As corny as it sounds, Chalet Girl is an inspiring movie that will tempt you to take your own leap of faith – whether that’s something as little as approaching a new group of friends you have nothing in common with, or travelling and working abroad for the summer!
My rating...
Watch it with..A group of friends for lots of giggles and perving on Ed Westwick, or with you're boyfriend who will enjoy the sporty snowboarding element of the story!
