The idea of seeing a comedy by Patrice Leconte, a director with a history of more serious work behind him, presented itself when this film turned up on a cable channel. True, this was a film that bears no resemblance with such movies as "Ridicule", "Intimate Strangers", and others, more accomplished than this silly comedy. Granted, it was made by a younger man who showed his genius in staging this sequel of "French Fried Vacation", which we have not seen, also directed by M. Leconte.As comedies go, this strictly for local consumption. It is surprising Hollywood did not steal the plot for a remake, although we cannot be one hundred percent sure it was not the case. Suffice it to say, M. Leconte gives the picture some fun in the snow. The surprise in this film was the presence of the young and energetic Thierry Lharmitte, who went to make a name for himself in the French cinema. We were somewhat disappointed by Josiane Balasco, an actress who has always delivered, but here has nothing to do. Basically, it is the same cast as in the original film. Michel Blanc, and especially the wonderful Christian Clavier fare better than their comrades in the snow.

It is an excellent movie!! A French monument! For English speakers, you can find the DVD with English subs on amazon.co.uk. Most of the actors are part of the French comedy group called "Le Splendid", and they're all simply awesome. This movie is a sequel of "Les Bronzes" which in my opinion is not worth watching. It's good but it's far below the laughing fest that is "Les Bronzes font du ski". The dialogues are perfect and the situations are just hilarious. A group of friends who met in a Club Med for single people reunite to go ski together. When they decide to do a helicopter drop at the top of a ski resort things start to go wrong...but it gets real funny for us! I'm French but I hope foreigners will get a chance to watch it since it was a huge success in France along with "Le Pere Noel est une Ordure" (also available on amazon uk)made by the same "Splendid" group.

As far as sequels go - which, on average is not very far at all - this isn't bad. The fantastic success of Les Bronzes was reason enough to get Splendid together to write and perform in a sequel and turn Patrice Leconte loose to 'direct' them. Like the first one it's essentially a series of sketches rather than a conventional Beginning, Middle, End kind of plot but let's face it, the people performing the sketches are some of the best in the business and as other posters have remarked virtually all of them went on to enjoy long careers - Michel Blanc for example is starring in a great new film Je Vais trouve tres beau even as I write and Josie Balasko wrote and starred in a play that finished its run earlier this year - not least Leconte who now has a string of successes to his name. Like its predecessor it's punchlines have entered the language which speaks for itself. It is, however, tarnished with a dirty word "Entertainment" pseuds beware.

If you like it, you're half-way to become a french "classics" amateur! It's not quite understandable for someone who doesn't know a bit about french comedies, yet it can allow you to grab a glimpse of what makes froggies laugh. It's full of references for one who knows a little about France, but it's definitely not a 'clever' movie. Lean back in your seat, imagine you're an average person who just wants to relax and you're in!