Off-Piste

A moving and well done film unless you are distracted by the apparently poor Irish accents. Some of the constructs are a bit stretched but nothing like 99% of other films out right now. A mix of suspense, sadness and reflections on life, different from my expectation of a more typical action movie.

Not what I was expecting, thankfully no Hollywood style ex army ridiculous action scenes. Instead a realistic interpretation of a troubled man deeply affected by his past. More thought provoking and sensitive than I expected, although some decisions were bewildering. Fine acting by the the three main cast, quite touching at times, if the budget is to be believed, its incredible. Def worth a watch, my sort of film.

Luckily I downloaded this tripe so didn't part with any money. What a complete shambles of a film. The main actor actually isn't all that bad he just let down by a crap script.

As another reviewer has mentioned the Irish accents are terrible and the female lead really needs to give up the acting lark!

Stay away Read a book Do the washing go shopping or put this on to fall asleep to!

I need to write 10 lines for this review I think I have spent long enough on this but need to do my duty and steer you all away from this dross!

An army operation to take down an IRA cell goes badly wrong, resulting in the death of a young boy. Twelve years later, and his vengeful sister "Niamh" (Lara Lemon) is old enough to set off in pursuit of the soldier who, accidentally, shot him. That takes us to the remote French Alps where he now lives in recluse, with his blind violin-playing mother, trying even now to come to terms with what he has done. She finds him with remarkable ease, but her plan does not quite pan out - especially as her would-be boyfriend from Ireland "Ethan" (Jared Fortune) and his dangerous mate "Logan" (Paul McGuinness) also manage to find them both and it all turns particularly nasty. To call this an implausible story would be an understatement, the whole thing is borderline preposterous. The snowscape scenery is beautiful to look at, but the rest of this offers little by way of a credible thriller with Nathan Bevan-Stewart doing his best as the guilt-ridden soldier "Michael" but an ensemble of easy enough to look at, but hardly more than competent other on-screen talent lurching from unlikely scenario to unlikely scenario - only with guns and a rottenly contrived script. To be fair, it moves along quickly and once it gets going there is some action for us - but I'm afraid you have to leave you sensible head at the door....

Looking at the cover of "Off Piste", you're expecting a pure survival movie full of action and chases in a French snowy landscape. That's not the case. It's rather a psychological drama in which processing a traumatic experience is the central theme. First we meet Stanley Winters (Henry Douthwaite) who during a military raid on a local pub, where I.R.A. members were discussing something, accidentally shot the young son of one of these members. And then there's Niamh O'Brien (Lara Lemon) who witnessed the death of her younger brother and father that evening as a young girl. Both are struggling with the past. Stanley stows away his military combat uniform after this incident and moves to the French Alps where he'll live with his blind mother (Yvonne O'Grady) in a remote mountain cabin. There he tries to find inner peace.

As Niamh discovers the real truth about the death of her father and brother, she leaves Ireland confidently and travels to the French mountain village. The further progress of the story seems to be evident. You can only guess what motives Niamh has to find those responsible. Is it to avenge her loss? A revenge because her life ended up in a series of depressions? Or is it because she wants to deal with the past and finally be able to leave it all behind? That the person who took care of her afterwards still has a dossier lying around about Winters, is an indication about the unlikely and the sometimes nonsensical events.

I liked the psychological aspect and thought it was interesting enough. Stanley struggling with his inner demons and using a female psychiatrist (who displays more uncertainties than her patient) to channel his recovery. Even Stanley's mother tries to get her son back on the right path so that he rediscovers the meaning of life. That's why she acts like a mother hen, the moment Niamh arrives. As a true matchmaker she tries to hook them up. She isn't aware of the dreadful link that connects the two.

What's the flaw in this film you wonder? The absurdity of the two idiotic Irish guys, traveling headlong to the French Alps. Ethan (Jared Fortune) , because he believes that he sees himself as the fiancée of Niamh and he finds it hard to bear that she's looking for another man. And then there's Logan (Paul McGuinness). He's just in it because he has probably nothing else to do. They arrive at the French village like two genuine Irish hooligans. Ethan confronts Niamh with the fact that she first had to consult with him. A bit later he clears off like a beaten dog after she made it perfectly clear to him what their relationship is about. The resulting response is so excessive that the credibility of the whole film is brought down. If these two skirts hunters have experienced many rejections in their homeland, I fear the female part of the population was decimated in number. I've always said that foam-free, warm beer is fatal for human brain cells.

So despite the beautiful renditions of Henry Douthwaite and Yvonne O'Grady, "Off Piste" reasonably far-fetched. I understand that without the intervention of Etahn and Logan the complete movie would be kind of banal with just scenes of two traumatized souls. But as I said before, the motivation for their intervention is totally whacked. Even the ultimate action from Stanley is in terms of coincidence grossly exaggerated. Regrettable. Because eventually I found the underlying issue extremely interesting.

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