Eddie the Eagle Review

4.0 Stars

Eddie the Eagle is the movie that is based on the life and Olympic dreams of a Michael "Eddie" Edwards.  As a young boy, Edwards' dream was to become an Olympian in any sport he can.  The trouble is, he wasn't good at any of them.  He discovers ski jumping and figures he has a chance since Britain hasn't had a ski jump competitor since 1928.  And he's just as bad at jumping as he's been at everything else.  He enlists the training of former competitive ski jumper Bronson Peary (Hugh Jackman) who also strongly encourages Eddie (Taron Egerton) to quit while he's still alive.  But the Eagle's determination wins over Peary and the two set out to compete in the Olympics. 

 

Eddie qualifies simply by successfully landing a 70 meter height jump in an international competition.  The Olympic Committee swiftly changes the rules of qualification in an effort to keep Eddie the embarrassment from participating in the games.  So he goes out and meets their demands and they are forced to let him in.  He finishes last in the 70 meter jump, but it's enough to set a British record and Eddie is thrilled.  His celebration, though losing the event, wins over the crowd.  His unorthodox jumping style earns him the nickname Eagle, but he still doesn't have respect.  He decides to compete in the 90 meter height, though he never has jumped from that level before.

 

For those of you who don't quite grasp exactly how tall that is.  90 meters is just over 295 feet which is just shy of 100 yards.  So, imagine standing a football field upright.  That's how high up he is at the beginning of the jump.  A typical jumper reaches speeds of 60 miles per hour by the time they jump and jumps over the distance of a football field.  

 

Eddie the Eagle is being hailed as one of the most inspirational movies of the year.  Delightfully feel-good.  In my preview, I said that movies like this make me nervous for two reasons: first, it's based on a true story, but can I enjoy the movie without constantly analyzing how much is true and how much is embellished or changed to make it a Hollywood movie?  The second reason movies like this make me nervous is because it's a feel-good movie about an underdog.  These can be extremely well done and bring you to tears and make you cheer from your seat.  Or they can be forced and manipulated, and I don't appreciate that.

The preview looked sweet, charming, sincere, genuine, entertaining and inspiring.  But, that's what 30 second previews are supposed to look like.  Eddie the Eagle backed it up with a truly delightful movie.  It is set in the late 1980's and it looks and sounds like it was filmed in the 80's as well.  It has a certain graininess to it and a soundtrack that was taken straight out of some of your favorite 80's movies.  The emotionally charged scenes courtesy of any John Hughes film; the action from movies like Rad or ET; inspirational and training scenes from The Karate Kid, Flashdance or Footloose.  It didn't take itself too seriously, but was seriously entertaining.  

What tugged most at my emotional heart strings was not that everyone was against Eddie, not the mocking, not the overcoming of obstacles, not the crowd cheering for him.  What got me most was his loving and supportive mother.  Maybe it's because my mom is the same way, always supportive and encouraging no matter what I want to do; always the biggest fan.  Eddie's father told him he's no athlete; but his mother always believed in him, or at least in his spirit.  She even gave him an old lunch box to take with him to hold all his Olympic medals.  It served more as a graveyard for his many pairs of broken eyeglasses in his repeated failures, but she always supported him.

I gave Eddie the Eagle a hesitant, but hopeful 4 Stars and I'm standing by that but without any hesitancy.  I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.  It was not manipulative or forceful.  It was perfectly cheesy, sweet, funny and wonderful matched with the most timely nostalgic soundtrack you could imagine, and has a decent chance of making it to my home collection.  So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see.

Eddie the Eagle Preview

In 1988, Michael "Eddie" Edwards became the first Olympic competitor for Britain in the ski jump since 1928.  After an international competition in 1987, he was ranked 55th in the world.  That ranking was enough to qualify him to compete in the Olympics as Britain's only applicant.    At the Olympics, he finished last in his first couple events, but displayed an unwavering spirit that made him endearing to those watching the games.  He became a bit of a celebrity during the games, but his fame was seen as an embarrassment to other ski jumpers.  The media nicknamed him Eddie the Eagle and he was recognized by Frank King, an Olympic Organizer, for his tenacity.  However, after the 1988 games came to a close, a new rule was instated requiring amateurs hoping to compete in an Olympic event must compete in an International Competition and rank high enough to qualify.  This was done in an effort to keep future embarrassments like Eddie from happening again.  Because of the new stipulations, Eddie did not qualify to compete in the 1992 Olympic games.

Eddie the Eagle is the movie that is based on these events.  Knowing what I have read about the actual history, the preview becomes a little confusing.  We see a young Edwards who's greatest dream is to become an Olympian in any sport he can.  The trouble is, he's not good at any of them.  He discovers ski jumping and figures he has a chance since Britain hasn't had a ski jump competitor since 1928.  And he's just as bad at jumping as he's been at everything else.  He enlists the training of Bronson Peary (Hugh Jackman) who also strongly encourages Eddie (Taron Egerton) to quit while he's still alive.  But the Eagle's determination wins over Peary and the two set out to compete in the Olympics.  We know Eddie competed in the 1988 Calgary Olympics but did not qualify for the 1992 games.  It is unclear from the preview if the Olympic Committee is trying to prevent him from competing in the 1988 or the 1992 games.  What is clear is that the other jumpers and the committee find him to be an embarrassment to the games and to their sport and want him out.  That only fuels Eddie and Peary even more to keep at it.

Eddie the Eagle is being hailed as one of the most inspirational movies of the year.  Delightfully feel-good.  Movies like this make me nervous for two reasons: first, it's based on a true story, but can I enjoy the movie without constantly analyzing how much is true and how much is embellished or changed to make it a Hollywood movie?  I've seen quite a few of these recently: The Big Short, Steve Jobs, Spotlight, Concussion.  The trick, I've found, is to not do too much research about the actual events beforehand so you can take the movie for what it is, a movie.  It's not a documentary.  The second reason this movie makes me nervous is because it's a feel-good movie about an underdog.  These can be extremely well done and bring you to tears and make you cheer from your seat.  Or they can be forced and manipulated, and I don't appreciate that.

The preview looks sweet, charming, sincere, genuine, entertaining and inspiring.  But, that's what 30 second previews are supposed to look like.  Will the movie be able to back it up?  I hope so.  I'm giving Eddie the Eagle a hesitant, but hopeful 4 Stars.  Worth the price of admission and a good candidate to find a home in my personal collection.  Am I right?  We shall see.