Eddie the Eagle

I'm such a sucker for movies like Eddie the Eagle. Movies that focus on an underdog hero besting the odds to triumph either personally, professionally or both. This film falls quite easily within that particular genre. While not an accurate telling of the story of Michael "Eddie" Edwards (far from it actually), it is certainly an entertaining one.  

For much of his life, Eddie (played by Taron Egerton) has had aspirations to be an Olympic athlete. Much of his childhood was spent trying to find the right sport to focus on, to the adoration of his Mum (played by Jo Hartley) and the chagrin of his dad (played by Keith Allen). This is covered in an amusingly adorable montage as young Eddie stumbles through several Olympic sports. He finally settles on Downhill Skiing, realizing he won't be in the Olympics, but the Winter Olympics. When he is told he won't be part of the 1988 British downhill ski team, he's about ready to give up on his dream. Then he discovers that there is no one competing in the Ski Jump event for Great Britain. Seeing the opportunity, he leaves home and heads to Germany to begin learning how to Ski Jump. Filled with more moxie than actual know how, Eddie jumps in and starts learning as he goes. He attracts the attention of Bronson Peary (played by Hugh Jackman), a one time Olympic Ski Jumper for the U.S who now works on maintaining the Ski Jumps, as well as on a bottle of scotch. Initially trying to discourage Eddie, he begrudgingly agrees to coach Eddie and try to get him ready for the fast approaching Winter Olympics.

This film fits the usual underdog sports story pretty well and it's some well worn territory, but damn if it still didn't work on me. Yeah, it was fairly predictable but at the same time I didn't care because even if I knew where it was going, the trip getting there was still a lot of fun. A lot of that goes to both the leads in the film. Taron Egerton creates such an endearing character in Eddie that you can't help but love the guy. He is absolutely determined to be an Olympian and nothing is going to stop him. He is certainly the heart of the film. Then on the other side, you have the cynical and feisty Bronson Peary. After being dropped from the U.S ski jump team, Bronson landed at the Ski Jump school in Germany, whiling his days away maintaining the slopes while nursing a flask of scotch he refers to as his "jacket." He initially resists Eddie's requests to coach him because he wants to keep that chapter of his life closed, but Bronson finally relents when he realizes that Eddie won't quit, no matter how many times he gets hurt. From there, starts an unlikely friendship between the two of them as they embark on a training regimen that would be best described as "ugly but effective." Bronson is tragically a completely fictional character, which was disappointing to hear, especially after witnessing said character go down the 90m ski jump in the middle of the night with no protective gear while smoking a cigarette just to show up the Norwegian Olympic ski jump team who considered him washed up. (Although what a Norwegian Olympic ski jump team is doing training in Germany is never well explained since I have it on pretty good authority that there is, or at least was, at least one ski jump in Norway.)

The film is well directed by Dexter Fletcher and was produced by Matthew Vaughn from a script by Simon Kelton and Sean Macaulay who imbue the film with a warm sweetness and a heavy dose of humor. There are a lot of genuine and big laughs to be had in the film, as well as a lot of heart. It's the kind of movie that had tears welling up in my eyes while I had a big, dopey grin on my face, and quite honestly those are my favorite kinds of movies. I also loved that the score of the film, written by Matthew Margeson, perfectly recaptures the electronic, synthesizer scores of the era. I thought that was a wonderful touch and left theater wanting to download it (sadly, I have a bit of a wait for it to be released). The film also happens to take place at the same Winter Olympics (the 1988 games in Calgary, Canada) as the film Cool Runnings, a film about the Jamaican Bobsled team that competed there as well and they worked in a nice little reference to the other film as well that gave me and one other viewer a chortle of recognition.

Overall, Eddie the Eagle was certainly my kind of movie. Sentimental, but not too sappy. Funny, but not too silly. It strikes a good balance with two great characters at the center of it. Not everyone may enjoy it as much as I did, but I certainly dug it.