High school student Lane Meyer (John Cusack) wakes up on a Saturday morning a few weeks before Christmas for his school's ski team tryouts. Lane is quite obsessed with his girlfriend, Beth (Amanda Wyss). Packing his skies into the family's jalopy station wagon, he picks up Beth and drives to the mountains where the tryouts are being held. Unknown to Lane, Beth is planning to break up with him and date Roy Stalin (Aaron Dozier), the school's best skier, captain of the team and the only person able to ski the resort's infamous K-12, a treacherous run that has injured many other hopefuls. Stalin will judge the trials himself and immediately takes an eye to Beth, allowing her to hold his clipboard. Lane makes his run and finishes within the qualifying time to make the team, however, Stalin doesn't record Lane's time until he's well past the finish line, disqualifying him. Lane his crestfallen but becomes even more so when, on the drive home, Beth drops the news that she's breaking up with him to date Roy. She tells Lane that she needs to date someone more popular. Heartbroken at the thought of their six-month relationship ending, Lane resolves to win Beth back. All of his attempts fail and Lane becomes even more depressed and considers several types of suicide, each one failing as well. Lane also fails to hold down a part-time job flipping hamburgers for one of his father's clients, the cantankerous Rocko (Chuck Mitchell) and is harassed by two Korean brothers, Yee Sook Ree (Yuji OkumotoYuji Okumoto) & Chen Ree (Brian Imada) who persistently challenge him to drag races -- one of them can only speak English like Howard Cosell giving a play-by-play commentary on the action. Lane never wins and often gets into accidents while trying to beat them. Lane is also pestered by his uncouth father (David Ogden Stiers) who wants him to start dating again and also work on a pet project: there is a hulk of a 1968 Camaro under a tarp on the front lawn. His father sets him up with the daughter of his coworker, the obnoxious Joanne Greenwald (Rima Lyn (as Rima Delane)), who makes it clear she doesn't want to date Lane, much less accompany him to a school dance that night. She accepts half of what she perceives the evening will cost them collectively and sends Lane away. At the dance, Lane is finally able to make a connection with Monique Junot (Diane Franklin), a seemingly meek French foreign exchange student staying with the Meyers' neighbors, Ricky Smith (Dan Schneider (as Daniel Schneider)) and his overbearing and obnoxious mother (Laura Waterbury). Ricky becomes jealous and his mother, who believes Monique will be a good match for her son, bundles Monique off in their car. Lane's friend, Charles De Mar (Curtis Armstrong), a drug-obsessed goof-off who has been at their school for seven years as a student, suggests that Lane try to ski the K-12 in order to win Beth back. Lane tries a few times but wipes out. Returning one night from the ski resort, he finds Monique standing in the street hurling oranges at a nearby road sign. She confesses that she's been able to speak English all along, a fact she'd kept hidden from Ricky and his mother so she wouldn't have to speak to him and more easily fend off his advances. However, she reveals she's become frustrated and angry that Ricky and his mother have been so persistent. Lane promises not to tell anyone about her secret and also corrects her pronunciation a few times. The next morning, Lane finds Monique working on his Camaro. Surprisingly she has resurrected the engine but there's still much work to be done. She gets Lane to join her over his objections. The finish the job, the car purrs and runs like a top, and they go out for a cruise. At a red light they find the two Korean guys out with their girlfriends. With much greater confidence, Lane defeats them soundly, the Korean duo unable to even get their car moving. Lane takes Monique out on a date to the burger restaurant he was fired from and treats her to dinner. He also woos her by playing the saxophone, an instrument he'd given up some time ago. Monique is impressed and they finally hit it off. In the school cafeteria the next day, Roy harasses Lane, even making nasty suggestions about Monique. Monique shakes a soda can and sprays Roy with it, prompting Roy to refer to her as a "frog." Lane stands up to Roy and challenges him and the two agree to meet at the K-12 that weekend for a showdown. Though Lane suggests they keep the contest between them, the whole school is informed a few moments later when it's announced over the PA system. At the mountain, Monique coaches Lane in skiing the slope. Lane crashes and tumbles but still remains confident because of Monique. They are met by Charles who reminds him that the whole town has turned out for the match. As Charles leaves, he breaks part of the boot harness on Lane's ski. As he's trying to fix it, Lane is met by a persistent paperboy (Demian SladeDemian Slade) who has been harassing Lane for the $2 his family owes for their subscription. The boy chases Lane on his snow-outfitted BMX bike to the top of the K-12 where Stalin is waiting. Out of pure terror, Lane begins his run down K-12, keeping his balance on one ski. Stalin starts his own run as well. As they both zip down the slope, Stalin eventually knocks the paperboy over a cliff, where he plummets and lands safely but dazed. Lane and Stalin continue their race to the finish line where Lane wins. The town crowds around him and Beth embraces him briefly before Lane sees Monique being dragged away by Ricky and his mother. When one of the Korean brothers asks him -- like Howard Cosell -- how he was able to pull off such a daring comeback. Lane says "Language lessons!" and runs after Monique. When Lane catches up to Monique, Ricky challenges him to a fencing match with ski poles. Lane defeats Ricky, throwing him onto his mother. He slings Monique over his shoulder and they run off. Ricky composes himself and is instantly smitten with a young, geeky girl who helps him to his feet. He walks off over the protests of his mother. The final scene of the movie shows Lane and Monique making out on his Camaro while it's parked on the pitcher's mound at Dodger Stadium. A single paperboy on a bike is seen riding toward them.
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