We’ve been fans of rising star Felicity Jones ever since seeing her on stage in Polly Stenham‘s “That Face” a few years back, and she’s only gone from strength to strength since — she made our list of 2010 Breakthrough Performances for being the sole high point of Ricky Gervais‘ “Cemetery Junction.” 2011 looks like it could be her year, with sought-after roles in “Trap for Cinderella,” “This Beautiful Fantastic,” “Hysteria” and the highly promising Sundance entry “Like Crazy,” as well as being on the shortlist for the lead in the tentpole “Snow White and the Huntsman.”
Starting off though, is her first lead in the British/German co-production “Chalet Girl,” a romantic comedy about a 19-year-old former skateboarder who takes a job at an exclusive chalet in the Alps and falls for the son of her boss. A poster and a trailer for the picture debuted over the Christmas break, and unfortunately it looks like something that Jones will be swiftly disowning.
We’re obviously not the target market here, but even this writer’s little sister, who typically eats this stuff up, turned her nose up at the trailer. Despite an appealing cast (the usually reliable likes of Bill Nighy and Bill Bailey join teen show graduates like “Gossip Girl“‘s Ed Westwick and “One Tree Hill” star Sophia Bush), this looks deeply derivative, and frankly, inept — it’s no surprise to see that “All About Steve” helmer Phil Traill has somehow managed to get out of director’s jail to shoot this.
Jones at least seems to be demonstrating why we’re tipping her so highly, but even that won’t be enough to get us anywhere near theaters to see it. There’s no word on a U.S. release date as yet, but it hits UK multiplexes on February 18th. Truffaut’s “Day for Night” is getting re-released on the same day. Just saying.
