Out Cold

Out Cold is a 2001 comedy film directed by Brendan and Emmett Malloy (credited as "The Malloys"), who are best-known for directing music videos. The film is an extended homage to the classic film Casablanca, and a parody of 1980s ski movies.

The story takes place at Bull Mountain, a down-market ski resort in Alaska, and home to a variety of colorful characters. One particular group of these characters is led by Rick Rambis, a symbol of the local culture and an accomplished amateur snowboarder. Upon the death of owner and founder "Papa" Muntz, his son Ted Muntz inherits ownership of the resort. Having neither the desire nor the wherewithal to run the resort himself, Muntz resolves to sell the business, in spite of his father's wishes for the resort to be run the way he did, with Rambis as his chosen successor.

Muntz introduces his buyer John Majors, a cut-throat businessman and owner of an international chain of ski resorts. Wanting desperately to seal the deal, Muntz agrees to numerous changes that Majors believes his investors will want to see. These include the introduction of uniforms, and an overhaul of the facilities to be more classy, modern, and trendy.

As it becomes clear that the resort Majors is building will bear little resemblance to the Bull Mountain that Rambis knows and loves, he's faced with the choice of managing the mountain the way Majors would have it managed, or quitting in order to defend Papa Muntz's vision and the lifestyle that he and his friends have forged for themselves.

Complicating matters for Rambis is the return of Anna, a French girl with whom Rambis fell in love while vacationing in Cancun, who, as it turns out, is Majors' daughter. He must choose between wooing Anna away from her fiance, and his budding romance with Jenny, a local girl who has been trying for months to get his attention.

Although the film was disliked by critics and was not a box office success, it has become something of a Cult Classic in the years since its release, with fans of the film considering it to be one of the best comedies of 2001. It is also popular in the snowboarding community.

Tropes used in Out Cold include:
  • The Alcoholic: Luke has a habit of drinking until he passes out, which usually results in him being the target of practical jokes by those still conscious.
    • This trope also applies to Stumpy, who at point in the film takes a swig of rubbing alcohol, something that will make you very sick in real life.
  • Between My Legs: During the hot tub scene.
  • Book Ends: Rick snowboarding Hangman's Peak.
  • Butt Monkey: Brothers Luke and Pig Pen take turns.
    • Anthony also qualifies. Every time he gets on a snowboard he crashes until he finally learns to ride at the end of the film.
  • Cool Car: Rick drives a vintage muscle car... with a snowplow on the front.
  • Cool Old Guy: Papa Muntz
  • The Danza: Lee Majors plays John Majors. Subverted in that the latter was born with the surname Mankowitz.
  • Distracted by the Sexy: During the King of the Mountain competition, Jenny flashes her boobs at Pig Pen to make him wipe out.
  • The Ditz: Pig-Pen.
  • Drowning My Sorrows: When Anna shows up in Bull Mountain Rick goes home and drowns his sorrows in a bottle of Wild Turkey bourbon, completely forgetting that he was supposed to meet Jenny for a date.
  • Embarrassing First Name: Pig Pen's real name is Pierre.
  • Every Scar Has a Story

Inga: "Where did you get these scars?"
Luke: "Well, let's see... skateboard, truck accident, and a fire hydrant."
Inga: "I bet each one has its own exciting story, no?"
Luke: "No, not really; I skateboarded off a truck into a fire hydrant."

Luke: These pants are cramping my Hardy Boys. It's no mystery.

Luke: Guys! A little sensitivity here. God! Can't you see this is a dejected man? Well, Rick get your dejected head out of your ass.

  • Invention Pretension: In a deleted scene, Stumpy claims to have invented snowboarding.
  • Lampshade Hanging: When Rick asks everyone if they remember Papa Muntz's last toast, Luke says in a deadpan voice, "No, tell us."
  • Literal Ass-Kicking: Eric gets a snowboarding boot stuck in his ass thanks to it.
  • Making Love in All the Wrong Places: When the Big Bad prepares to take ownership of the resort in a ceremony attended by his investors, he unveils a mock-up of one of the new gondolas, wherein he finds Pig Pen having sex with his step-daughter Inga.
  • Metaphorgotten: The opening narration has Stumpy comparing Bull Mountain to a woman, then switching over to a discourse on skiing injuries that has nothing to do with women, then ending on a note that would make his soliloquy a good comparison of a woman to the mountain, but making absolutely no sense the other way around
  • Ms. Fanservice: Inga. The fact that they cast a former Playboy Playmate of the Year for the character should be a dead give away.
  • "El Niño" Is Spanish for "The Nino": "Carpe the diem! Seize the... carp!"
    • "Welcome to El Matador. It's Spanish for... the Matador."
  • The Obi-Wannabe

Rick Rambis: Pig Pen, when I want advice about a good Planet of the Apes film or maybe how to get the resin out of my bong I'll come to you ok? But I am not gonna take romantic advice from somebody who cannot spell romantic or advice... or bong.

Pig-Pen: I don't need a test to tell you I do drugs.

  • Stuck on a Ski Lift: Pig Pen, while sleeping on the job, dreams that he's a James Bond-style action hero, charged with rescuing the Solid Gold Dancers, who are trapped in a stalled gondola. Cut to reality, where Rick and Luke are actually stuck in a gondola as they wait for Pig Pen to wake up and let them out.
  • Talkative Loon: Stumpy, who constantly spouts off rants and anecdotes that are self-contradictory, nonsensical, or otherwise insane.
  • This Is for Emphasis, Bitch:

John Majors: "That's a three hundred dollar hat, bitch!"

  • Tyrant Takes the Helm: When Majors takes over Bull Mountain and turns it into "Snownook", a snooty, Aspen-like resort.
  • Two-Person Pool Party: Luke and Inga have the hot tub variant until she gets tired and goes home, much to Luke's disappointment.
  • Wild Teen Party: After being turned away from the local bar because of a private party being held inside, the locals of Bull Mountain decide to throw a rather wild house party.
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