3.5 stars. Rated PG-13, and too harshly, for mildly suggestive material and partial nudity
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 2.26.16
Winning isn’t everything.
Sometimes merely participating,
and doing your best, is enough. More than enough.
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| When Bronson Peary (Hugh Jackman, left) finally, reluctantly, agrees to help train wannabe ski-jumper Michael "Eddie" Edwards (Taron Egerton), the task proves an uphill challenge for a young man with no athletic grace whatsoever. |
We tend to forget, after the
increasingly overblown sequels, that in his 1976 film debut, Sylvester
Stallone’s Rocky Balboa merely wanted to “go the distance.” And that’s all he
did, which is — in great part — what makes that film such an endearing classic.
British director Dexter
Fletcher’s charming Eddie the Eagle is cut from the same cloth. This
whimsical underdog saga is fueled by an engaging performance from Taron
Egerton, superbly cast as Michael “Eddie” Edwards, the wannabe British
ski-jumper who made such an improbable — and improbably triumphant — showing at
the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.
An opening statement is careful
to note that this big-screen account of Edwards’ exploits is “inspired” by
actual events, which allows scripters Simon Kelton and Sean Macaulay to play
fast and loose with a few details. They’re careful to retain the essential
broad strokes that brought Edwards to Calgary, and of course his performance at
the Olympics is a matter of record (and can be viewed in any number of YouTube
videos).
But various supporting characters
have been conflated or invented outright, in the manner we’d expect from a
crowd-pleasing, feel-good movie. That’s less of an issue in this particular
case, as such liberties merely augment the myth-making that put Edwards in the history
books. Somehow, it feels appropriate.
Besides which, when the result is
this enjoyable, it’s hard to complain.
We meet young Eddie as the
bespectacled only child of working-class Cheltenham parents Janette (Jo
Hartley) and Terry (Keith Allen), the latter a construction plasterer by trade.
Despite poor vision, worse knees — the boy is shackled into a leg brace — and
an utter lack of coordination, Eddie lives and breathes a foolish notion of
growing up to become an Olympian.
Fletcher brings us through
Eddie’s childhood with a brief prologue that highlights the boy’s stubborn
pluck, much to the delight of his doting mother, and the exasperation of his
aggrieved father. Hartley and Allen are delightful: She’s the mum we’d all love
to have, while Allen — all bluster and bluff — makes ample use of his busy
background as a popular character actor.
And how can we not adore a child
who believes that holding his breath underwater for not quite a minute will
qualify for some obscure Olympic event?
