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.
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