Eddie the Eagle (2016) review

A lot of sports films have featured classic stories of underdogs; athletes who managed to defy all expectations to make their mark in sports history, whether it be a fictional character like Rocky Balboa in the Rocky films or a real-life person like Daniel ‘Rudy’ Ruettiger in Rudy. This film is an underdog story as well but not necessarily in the same way that other underdog sports stories are. The reason why this one is unique is because its main protagonist was by no means a ‘successful’ athlete if based solely on his career stats. And yet it was ultimately his story and determination to overcome all odds that resonated with fans the world over. This is Eddie the Eagle, the story of Michael ‘Eddie’ Edwards, the first major representative for Great Britain in Olympic ski jumping. Edwards competed in the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada, which was also the basis for another noteworthy underdog sports film, Cool Runnings, the story of the first Jamaican national bobsled team (clearly that year’s Olympics was full of many firsts). However, Edwards ultimately ended up coming in last in both the 70m and 90m ski jump events. In the end, though, he became a worldwide sensation not because of his achievements in the Games but because of his ‘never say die’ spirit that many felt represented the true spirit of the Olympics. This story is now represented on the big-screen with Taron Egerton taking on the role of Edwards and Hugh Jackman co-starring as Edwards’ coach, though not his actual real-life coach. To be perfectly frank, if you’ve seen a lot of sports films you’ll know what to expect from this film in terms of the plot. But even with that in mind, the film is ultimately much like Eddie himself; it may not raise the bar or anything but it very much has its heart in the right place.

Ever since he was a boy, Michael ‘Eddie’ Edwards (Taron Egerton) dreamed of becoming an Olympic athlete. However, that dream of his proves to be a rather difficult one to accomplish due to his general lack of athletic ability, which constantly results in his father Terry (Keith Allen) trying to get him to look for a ‘real job’ while his mother Janette (Jo Hartley) is much more supportive of his dream. Eventually Eddie realizes that he’d be much more suited for the Winter Olympics, so he takes up downhill skiing. But that ends up going nowhere for him either when he’s informed by the British Olympic Association that he won’t get the chance to qualify for the downhill skiing squad at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Calgary. Undeterred, Eddie switches to ski jumping, a sport that hasn’t seen a British competitor since 1929, and travels to Germany to train, despite the fact that he’s never done it before and is constantly told by others that ‘the time to start jumping is when you’re five or six’. While there, he meets Bronson Peary (Hugh Jackman), a former Olympic skiing champion who was kicked off of his squad by his coach Warren Sharp (Christopher Walken) as a result of misconduct and being ‘disrespectful of the sport’. Although unwilling to help at first, Eddie eventually manages to get Peary to help him train, or in other words to help him not crash every time he lands. But when the British Olympic Association initiates a rule change that initially prevents him from qualifying for the Olympics, Eddie is forced to work even harder in order to achieve his dream.

So yeah, ‘Eddie the Eagle’ can be a rather straight-forward story at times as far as sports films are concerned. Some will no doubt notice quite a few of the genre’s familiar tropes here, like the gruff and indifferent coach who eventually warms up to the main character by the end of the film or a moment where the main character fails to qualify for the next event but gets the chance to continue anyway by some sort of miracle. Plus, it should also be noted that this film apparently isn’t that historically accurate. According to Edwards himself, the film is only about 10-15% factual in regards to what really happened. For one thing, as noted earlier, Hugh Jackman’s character is entirely fictional whereas in reality Eddie had two coaches, John Viscome and Chuck Berghorn. But even with those two things in mind, ‘Eddie the Eagle’ is still a very satisfying feel-good sports ‘dramedy’ not because of the story but because of its spirit. After all, what was Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards remembered for anyway? Not for his accomplishments in ski jumping but because of his heart. This guy may have never been the most talented skier in the world but he never gave up even when everyone kept telling him that he wasn’t going to amount to anything in the world of Olympic sports. That kind of attitude is one that many of us can take inspiration from and that I feel makes up for the film’s more formulaic moments. The film also maintains a solid light-hearted atmosphere throughout, which results in some very funny moments like when Eddie’s over-eagerness results in him deciding to immediately try bigger ski hills after just completing a single successful ski jump on the smaller hills.  

Taron Egerton had one hell of a breakout year in 2015 when he starred as Gary ‘Eggsy’ Unwin in Kingsman: The Secret Service (on a side note, this film is produced by Kingsman director Matthew Vaughn). Pretty much an unknown prior to the film’s release, Egerton ended up arguably outshining his more famous co-stars like Colin Firth and Michael Caine thanks to his strong charisma. That charisma also carries through into this film as well as he takes on a much different kind of character compared to Eggsy in Eddie Edwards, a role that’s more comedic in nature due to Eddie’s goofy antics and aforementioned occasional over-eagerness. Egerton has solid comic timing during the humorous parts of the film but also perfectly conveys Edwards’ steadfast spirit and everyman status, which makes you root for him the whole way. He’s backed by an equally terrific performance by Hugh Jackman as Eddie’s coach Bronson Peary. While he may be in the more traditional role of the washed-up former athlete who finds redemption through being a coach for the main character, that and his character isn’t even a real person, Jackman also maintains strong charisma throughout (he is Hugh Jackman, after all) and it actually is rather satisfying to see Peary go through his own arc of redemption by helping Eddie achieve his dreams. Plus, Egerton and Jackman have excellent chemistry, which is always a plus in films like this.     

Those who have seen enough sports films to point out all of the usual tropes of the genre are most certainly going to take note of this film’s more formulaic moments. And if you’re going into this film expecting a lot of historical accuracy, then you won’t find it here. But neither of those points should take away from this film’s biggest strength and that is the fact that it very much wears its heart on its sleeve. Sure it may focus on an athlete who never really achieved anything major from an actual athletic perspective but that athlete will win you over with his optimism and the conviction that he carries to never give up no matter the odds. And let’s face it, this type of message is most certainly a good thing in today’s increasingly cynical society. So quite simply, if you’re just looking for a nice and simple feel-good film, Eddie the Eagle is most certainly the kind of film for you. Its ‘never say die’ spirit is very much admirable, it maintains a solid light-hearted nature throughout that results in quite a few funny moments here and there, and it highly benefits from the strong camaraderie and performances of its leads, Taron Egerton and Hugh Jackman. I had a lot of fun watching this film and, heck, I’ll admit that I was this close to audibly cheering Eddie on during his big jump near the end of the film in the same way that one would root for Rocky Balboa as he goes the distance in the ring.  

Rating: 4.5/5