Touchstone and Beyond: "Out Cold"
Feature Presentation: Out Cold
Cast of Characters
- Flex Alexander as Anthony
- A.J. Cook as Jenny
- Caroline Dhavernas as Anna
- Derek Hamilton as Pig Pen
- Zach Galifianakis as Luke
- Jason London as Rick
- Lee Majors as John
Elevator Pitch:
Rick, Luke, Anthony, Jenny, and Pig Pen work at a ski resort in Bull Mountain, Alaska. When the resort is sold to John Majors, a Colorado ski resort owner, change is in the air. Majors wants to change the name of the mountain and the town.
Change is not embraced by the locals, but when Rick learns that his lost love Anna is the daughter of John Majors, Rick tries to win her back. The problem for Rick is that the ghost of girlfriends past is complicating his potential future with Jenny.
When Rick is made manager of the Majors resort, he becomes his friend’s boss and must decide what he wants his future to be. Is Rick going to be the corporate manager and with Anna, or is he going to choose the future with his friends and Jenny.
Can Rick rally his friends and save the town, or will he give in to a rich future in the Majors’ business?
The Orson Welles Award of Brilliance
I am embarrassed to admit this, but when Pig Pen poops in the sample cup, I laughed way too hard.
Zach Galifianakis is hilarious. His character Luke is genuinely funny, confident, silly, and likable. Galifianakis should play more of these regular supporting characters.
David Koechner randomly headbutting a guy is hilarious. The last scene of the film, when the friends crash Majors’ event is an excellent example of stupidity done right.
The Alan Smithee Award of Anonymity
Lee Majors’ excessive use of the r-word would not only never happen today, but its consistent use in the script makes the audience stop and recoil.
A.J. Cook should have had more screen time in the film. Jenny is a great character.
The homage to Casablanca is silly and not needed.
Production Team
- Directed by Brendan and Emmett Malloy
- Produced by Touchstone Pictures / Spyglass Entertainment / Donners’ Company
- Written by Jon Zack
- Release Date: November 23, 2001
- Budget: $24 million
- Domestic Box Office Gross: $13,906.394
- Worldwide Box Office Gross: $14,782,676
I Know Their Name
Fans of The Office will instantly recognize David Denman as Lance. The man who played Roy is easy to pick out in any film.
Deep Dive Behind the Scenes
- The movie was shot in Salmo, British Columbia.
- The movie had an opening weekend gross of four and half million dollars.
- This is Zach Galifianakis’ first major supporting role in a film.
- Of all the snowboarding in the film, the most qualified star of the film is Todd Richards, who plays Barry. Richards was a member of the 1998 US Olympic snowboard team. His character never leaves the wheelchair.
- Lewis Arquette died nine months before the film was released. He plays Papa Muntz.
- There’s a hidden easter egg referencing Lee Majors’ past role in The Six Million Dollar Man. Anna wears a windbreaker with O.S.I on it. The O.S.I refers to the Office of Scientific Intelligence, the employer of Majors’ character in the show.
- Victoria Silvstedt had two scenes cut from the film. One of them was a topless scene that needed to be removed to bring down the rating of the film.
- The movie was poorly received when it premiered. Rotten Tomatoes has the film listed at an 8% approval rating.
Bill’s Spicy Take
I would gladly trade five superhero movies a year for the rest of my life for silly slapstick comedies like Out Cold.
Oscar Thoughts
(These rankings are awarded based on my love for Hitchcock films):
{Frenzy Award-Skip this Film, Torn Curtain Award-Desperate for Something to Watch, For the Birds-A Perfect Film for Any Device, Rear Window Award- You Must Watch This Film on a Big Screen because this film is cinema.}
Out Cold is not an Oscar worthy film, nor is it well written with depth and layers. However, Out Cold is delightfully funny, ridiculously silly, and slapstick stupid.
Out Cold gets my For the Birds award. It’s funny, doesn’t take itself serious and would make a great film on any device.
Coming Attractions:
Next week, a look back at Guilty as Sin.