Everyone loves a good underdog story and if you know anything about Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards you’ll know he became a famous example of a heroic failure in the '80s.
‘Eddie The Eagle’, is the biographical sports drama comedy (dramedy) film, directed by Dexter Fletcher, that tells the true story of Eddie’s journey to become Great Britain’s first Olympic ski jumper.
The film opens with a young Eddie - probably about eight-years-old - with dreams to one day make it as an Olympic athlete. The only problem is he has “dodgy” knees that require a leg brace to help him get around. Despite his disability, however, Eddie is determined to train himself until he is worthy of competition.
After this we are taken on a cliff-notes version of Eddies childhood as he grows, heals and betters himself in various sports while being degraded and dispirited by his father and encouraged by his mother. His father demands he come to work for him as a plasterer. It is here that Eddie realizes he will never make it to the Summer Olympics, but with unwavering optimism he decides another course of action: the Winter Olympics.
It is at this stage of the film that Eddie’s journey really begins and new characters and themes are introduced. It is also relevant to point out the wonderful casting achieved within ‘Eddie The Eagle’. From the younger Eddie’s to the adult Eddie, there is accurate similarity between the actors. Taron Egerton does a great job playing the role of Eddie and absolutely nails the under bite and eccentric and quirky mannerisms of real-life Eddie Edwards.
Eddie is successful as a downhill skier but is rejected by British Olympic officials for being improper. It is here where you start to realize the bigger picture and underlying matters of classism become apparent as Eddie is judged and ostracized and continually told he won’t succeed just because of who he is and where he comes from.
After this set back, Eddie decides he could make the team as a ski jumper because Britain hasn’t had a ski jumper in decades. With this notion and fuelled with optimism and confidence, he travels to Germany to train for the 1988 Winter Olympics. It is here that he stumbles upon a drunken snow groomer who turns out to be American ex-Olympic ski jumper Bronson Peary, played by Hugh Jackman. At first Bronson tells Eddie to give up before he kills himself but soon becomes his coach and the rest is history.
The father-son relationship between Bronson and Eddie shows two very opposite people coming together who both share something in common and therefore learn from each other to heal and grow as individuals. Eddie obviously achieves his dream and goes to the Olympics and breaks his records and even competes in the 90m jump all with the help of Bronson. But Bronson goes from an alcoholic snow groomer to a sober ski coach who earns respect for himself and from others.
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‘Eddie The Eagle’ is a very heart warming and inspiring movie but tells what could be a serious and emotional story in a lighter tone with comedy splashed throughout. It does this with a cleverly written script that brings out the best of Eddie’s character forcing you to fall in love with him and his story. Although ‘Eddie The Eagle’ is undeniably cliché at times and most likely plays our emotions making us feel so damn good we can’t not like the film, it does it in all the right ways with a high quality script, actors and a story we all know and love. Unfortunately though, for all the ladies out there, there is no shirtless Hugh scene but there is a fake orgasm scene… You’ll have to see it to believe it.
