A story about the ups and downs of a young American skier named David Chappellet (Robert Redford), as he competes in various pre-Olympic trials, in Europe, "Downhill Racer" is a film I liked not at all. The story is emotionally cold and very impersonal. And David is smug, arrogant, self-centered, egotistical, and shallow.

The plot is incredibly perfunctory. Lots of minor, inconsequential routine consumes the film. Characters spend an inordinate amount of time waiting for something to happen, which drains away any intended tension or suspense. Further, there are dozens of downhill racing scenes, all similar, and largely interchangeable, which, among other things, renders an unnecessarily repetitive plot. The story doesn't really build, but stays more or less static, until the unsatisfying ending. And the script injects way too much press coverage into the plot, which adds to the impersonal tone.

However much Redford struts, postures, and prances around, he's not at all convincing, because he looks about twenty years too old for the role. To a limited extent this is offset by the presence of lovely Camilla Sparv, in a support role.

With wide-angle lens, the camera stays way back from the action, in many scenes, acting as spectator, instead of getting up close and personal with the characters. Colors are bright, vivid, almost garish. One thing I did like was the placement of a camera on a skier in a couple of scenes, to give viewers a feel for what it's like to ski 80 m.p.h. down a mountainside.

Watching "Downhill Racer" is not unlike watching a routine ski race on television, impersonal and voyeuristic. The film accentuates the competition, the spectacle, with a main character that is not likable, and a story that is impersonal and lacks thematic depth. Redford doesn't help matters. My impression is that the film was basically his cinematic play-toy, a vanity project, given his personal interest in skiing.

Even if you love Robert Redford and you love skiing movies, I can't recommend you sit through Downhill Racer. My preference lies with the former category, and since he won a BAFTA Award for his performance, I was looking forward to seeing some high-quality acting. There was no redeeming quality about this movie, and for the life of me, I don't know why he was honored for it.

Robert Redford plays a skier with hopes to join the American Olympic team. He's arrogant, rude, and a total cad with the women in his life. Gene Hackman plays the team's coach, and while it's fun to see him and Dabney Coleman so young, it's hardly worth seeing the film all the way through.

The script feels nonexistent, the acting feels ad-libbed, the plot is thin, and there's more boredom evoked than suspense. Michael Ritchie's directing style feels extremely European, and I don't generally like that artsy, noncommittal, aloof style of film. Besides Havana, this just might be the worst Robert Redford movie ever made.

DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie is not your friend. Most of it is filmed with a hand-held camera, and the skiing scenes seem to be filmed by the skier himself, and they will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"

It becomes very hard to watch this one from early on as the sequences appear to be just highlights from an afternoon on ABC's Wide World of Sports which used to run on TV when this movie was made. Yes, the skiing is okay but nothing special. No, it will not shift to the Harlem Globtrotters or Boxing during the movie.

Redford is too old for the role as a stud skier going to the Olympics to win a gold medal. He meets a woman and has some very mechanical overnight exercise with her. His coach, Hackman, try's to motivate him though Gene does not get any really inspired Hoosier type speeches here. The film is about as bland a Redford movie as can be found anywhere.

At least there are the lovely vistas that show up at times but often they are so short you see them for a few seconds and then pow your back to looking at bland stuff. What plot there is seems to be trying to capitalize on US Nationalism as the feeling of the thrill of victory for the US Skier is supposed to excite you at the end. Instead of that it is almost as bland as a poorly animated cartoon. Maybe that is why this one just does not come off.