What it reads is something that's not out of the ordinary, but this modest heist caper makes excellent use of the snowy Italian Alps and the story's oddly atypical structure does throw out a surprise or two at the back-end which is somewhat very questionable in the scheme of things. The feature actually opens with a cracking skiing sequence with no music or dialogue, but only natural noises while a stop watch is ticking away. You can see why Jean-Claude Killy was asked to star and it had nothing to do with his limited acting chops. Watching this former Olympian go to work was hypnotic. You could see that the story was made to work around that ability and having their escape to hide the stolen cash through the snow was a unique touch. Breath-taking scenery is marvellously shot with sharp camera positioning and there's a real sense of atmosphere created by director George Englund. Early on there are some pointless distractions and the script has its cheesy moments, but there's a nice flow, taut direction and the performances are acceptable.
Pacing is rather calculative and slow-tempo, but it doesn't miss a beat with it having the players' scope out the plan of action with a certain amount of detail and thought despite the simplicity, although when executed it runs so smoothly there's nothing remotely thrilling other than watching Killy's masterful skiing. Watch as we get slow-motion interwoven with a moody music score. Where I found the tension to mildly unfold was when an insurance inspector (played with wily conviction by Vittorio De Sica) makes himself known getting under the skin of those involved in the heist. Even that "Snow Job" is an interesting curio that might be far from spectacular but still held a certain swagger.
"Okay I'm willing to play".
