Summary
One year on from their eventful meeting at a holiday club on the Ivory Coast, six disparate
characters find themselves reunited in the French Alps. The nouvelle-riche
couple Bernard and Nathalie arrive for a winter skiing holiday, and are not pleased to
find their room is still being occupied. Jean-Claude checks into the same hotel
and demands a room with a double bed, so confident is he that he will at last find a woman
who will sleep with him. Jerôme works as a mountain doctor, occupying himself
mainly with attractive young women who injure themselves whilst skiing, to the chagrin
of his wife Gigi who toils away all day in her pancake restaurant. That leaves Popeye,
the gigolo skiing instructor who finds himself homeless when his ex-wife throws him out.
After some eventful skiing lessons, the six friends set out for an off-piste exploration
of the Alps and soon realise they are totally lost. As the others set off to find
help, Jean-Claude volunteers to remain with Gigi and Nathalie, sure that his hour has
come...
Review
After the success of Les Bronzés, the magnificent comedy troupe L'équipe
du Splendid made a triumphant return in this laugh-a-minute sequel which parodies the
French people's obsession with skiing holidays. The breath-taking beauty of the
Val d’Isère setting combined with some hilarious one-liners and great comic situations
makes this sequel at least as good, if not better than, the first Bronzés
film.
Jean-Claude's increasing desperate attempts to "make a conclusion" (his phrase for "getting
his leg over") provide the film's funniest moments, thanks to a splendid (every pun intended)
performance from Michel Blanc. Other moments to relish are: the scene where the
six skiing friends, arriving at a mountain chalet, try to distract themselves in inane
conversation whilst three hot-blooded Italians amuse themselves in an adjacent room, and
the scene where three of the party subject themselves to the novel cuisine of some very
peculiar mountain folk. Fans of the cult actors Thierry Lhermitte and Christian
Clavier should not be disappointed, as both performers give great entertainment value.
This may not be a very profound or intelligent film, but it is fun to watch and includes
some truly memorable jokes (all in the worst possible taste).
© James Travers 2003
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