Winter Break

This was a nice peace of work, i enjoyed this movie, it was well casted, I Noticed that 1 time james bond star George Lazenby made an apperance, its good to see him still making movies. I strongly recommend this film.

8 out of 10.

Matt has a Wall Street job waiting for him. This is a good thing because he has a quarter of a million dollars of school debt to begin paying off. Unfortunately, the company merges with another one and, before he even gets to start, Matt is let loose. His college roommates are going to go to Aspen for a year of skiing, low paying jobs, goofing off, and scouting women. Matt, in his despair, decides to join them. It is there that he meets the beautiful Michelle, a young ski instructor. But, horrors! She has a bonafide Wall Street boyfriend and only wants to be pals with Matt. Will Matt be able to find a new path, in life and in love? This is not a bad movie. The principal actors are not picture postcard pretty and that makes them more interesting. The script is typical male humor, mostly, but has some intelligent moments. The Aspen setting is, naturally, quite lovely, a true bonus for all viewers. If you like a storyline of romance and finding oneself among newly graduated college students, you will like this movie. It has a boys will be boys undertow, but hits all the right marks when push comes to shove.

Sheer Bliss is a movie that rises above the general stupidity that is so typical of today's "teen movies" and has a surprising amount of substance. Perhaps this is because it takes place after college, but the characters are not as juvenile and the movie isn't about grossing the audience out. Naturally, with the presence of American Pie's Eddie Kaye Thomas and newcomer Justin Urich, the film definitely has its characters of comic relief. Primarily a love story about a guy chasing after a girl (who has a boyfriend), it doesn't drag on like so many other such films(Loser for instance). Having seen both the original version of the film in its rough form and the final version, the director did a fine job of cutting excess baggage and allowing the film to move along. The skiing in the film is well done with cinematography to match. Supporting characters to newcomer Milo Ventimiglia (who is likeable without being sappy and pathetic) are well done and come off as people you would like to know. Maggie Lawson as Michelle is a great character simply because she is smart, funny and sexy. A rare trio for female characters in "teen" movies. The movie is a great mixture of comedy, drama and romance, and definitely a good date movie. It's worth seeing, because despite how it may be advertised, it is a departure from the traditional teen flick.

Also, for you James Bond fans out there, one-time James Bond George Lazenby makes an appearance as Campbell. It's nice to see him after 32 years.

The box for SHEER BLISS (also known as SNOW JOB and WINTER BREAK) reads, "Better than warm apple pie". This is no doubt an attempt to fool the consumer that SHEER BLISS is an AMERICAN PIE-style comedy when in reality, it is anything but. In fact, the only thing this movie has in common with AMERICAN PIE is cast member Eddie Kaye Thomas.

SHEER BLISS is the hardest kind of movie to comment on. It's a movie that isn't bad, but not really good either. The movie doesn't seem complete. It appears to be like a very rough cut of what could possibly be a great movie. Nothing really clicks. Everything seems flat and emotionless. The humor forced. The characters one dimensional. In the end, the viewer is left unsure how to feel about the movie since it seems incomplete. *1/2

But it could be a lot better. We could get a fun raunchy comedy in the vain of Animal House, American Pie and Ski School. But instead we got a very nice and sweet romantic drama, about growing up. This is hardly an R. I can't remember hear any profanity the would give it an R, and all the sex was all suggested. Nothing seen. Just a naked back. Some nudity wouldn't hurt. Some more sex and nudity and some raunchy comedy will make this an instant classic, and it would beat out Out Could, and be a classic like Ski School. And this is the better picture.

All in all this movie is sweet and it has a lot of fun moments with out being to coy. Milo Ventimiglia is good as the normal guy, and Maggie Lawson is sweet as Michelle. But it is Eddie Kay Thomas that still the show as the guy that never get laid. Justin Urich and Eddie Miles also good. Anna Faris gives a camo in the beginning, but I can't remember have seen Steve Guttenberg. Maybe he was the man in the opening sequence, which was a pretty funny scene.

All in all, if you don't have any big expectation, and don't to mind see a predictable and sweet comedy, you will not be disappointed. But if you expected to be fun in the vain of Road Trip and American Pie you will be disappointed. Maybe not worth the rental price, but if you see it on cable, give it a shot.

6/10