The Ski Bum

This adaptation of Romain Gary's novel emerges as a nebulous something about a naïve young man caught up with a moneyed bunch of schemers who are after his body, not only to seduce but to run errands and to stumble after on the slopes. Clark doesn't make things easy by having the characters babble, sometimes all at once; if, despite this ploy, you manage to catch what's going on, you're faced with characters so utterly unbelievable that you begin to doubt what little you thought you knew. How can one believe the hero to be the darling of the jet set when he has a nose capable of casting half the skiable piste into shadow? As for the jet setters, they simply haven't got the Right Stuff. If you're just greedy for a glimpse of any skiing, don't bother; you'd see more icy action staring at your refrigerator.