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 Herbert "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.
Actor Allusion: Barry is a former competitive snowboarder, as is the actor who plays him, Todd Richards.
Affably Evil: If John Majors likes you he can be a very warm, friendly, and generous person (as seen by the way he treats Rick).
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.
Binge Montage: Happens during the house party, which culminates with Luke and Pig-Pen slow dancing to "All Out of Love" by Air Supply (then Luke passes out and Pig-Pen duct tapes him to the mechanical bull).
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.
Can't Hold His Liquor: Luke, who becomes the butt of practical jokes no less than three times during the movie because he tends to pass out drunk before everybody else.
Coitus Uninterruptus: When a gondola containing Inga and Pig Pen having sex is unveiled in front of Majors' investors, Pig-Pen just keeps on thrusting until Majors physically pulls him off of Inga.
Stumpy: "I was there! Yep, I was there. It was called the Eighties. Ford was President, Nixon was in the White House and FDR was running this country into the ground. I was bumming in a hole in the wall town in what is now called Utah, when some fellow from Colorado shows up and starts making so called 'improvements'. Before you knew it, the streets were running with lattes. It got so bad that a guy that like to smoke a little grass, drink a little ripple, crow like a rooster, maybe challenge the mayor's son to a gentleman's duel, was considered uncouth, against God."
Later on, he's the go-to guy to know what to do when a character gets stuck in a jaccuzi water inlet. Makes one wonder.
Cool Car: Rick drives a classic Dodge Charger... with a snowplow on the front.
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.
Erotic Dream: Pig-Pen has a dream where he's a James Bond-esque secret agent who rescues the Solid Gold Dancers from a disabled tram. He is awoken when Rick and Luke stumble upon him dry-humping a bench.
First Girl Wins: Chronologically, this is true neither in regards to Anna vs Jenny nor with Rick vs Barry.
Handicapped Badass: Barry, a former competitive snowboarder who became a doctor and a pilot after being disabled. Shows up at the end to whisk Anna away from the resulting chaos he helped Rick and company cause when they unleashed the Humiliation Conga on John Majors.
Hey, It's That Guy!: A few of the minor characters in this film are played by professional snowboarders. Most notably, the character of Barry is played by Todd Richards, who was on the 1998 US Olympic snowboarding team.
Hilarious Outtakes: The film ends with a sequence of them, most notably Zach Galifianakis ad-libbing various metaphors for his testicles.
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.
Inspirationally Disadvantaged: Anna's fiance Barry is shades of Type B, being a former X-Games competitor and now a doctor and a pilot, he's simply too nice and cool for Rick and his friends to hate, despite the Triang Relations resulting from his presence.
Lampshade Hanging: When Rick asks everyone if they remember Papa Muntz's last toast, Luke says in a deadpan voice, "No, tell us."
Love Triangle: Rick is in love with Anna (who is engaged), and Jenny is interested in Rick.
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.
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.
Politically Incorrect Villain: Majors, who calls Ted Muntz a "retard" nonstop, and he also refers to Barry as "Captain Cripple" at one point.
Relationship Upgrade: At the end of the film, Rick and Jenny officially become a couple rather than just being friends.
Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor: Anna is torn between two men: Rick, who works as a mid-level employee at a downmarket ski resort, and Barry, who is a doctor and a pilot. Unusual for this trope, she ends up with Barry, the rich suitor.
Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: When Rick finds out that Majors fired his friends, he quits his high-paying job as manager of Snownook and leads the effort to sabotage the sale of the mountain.
Serial Spouse: Lampshaded by Anna, who states that her stepfather is a modern day Napolean, marrying his way across Europe (Majors' first wife was English, Anna's mom is French, and Inga is Swiss).
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.
Triang Relations: Rick and Anna like each other, but Rick and Jenny also like each other, and Anna is engaged to Barry (obviously, those two like each other as well).
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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