Review of Eddie the Eagle (2016) by Frances H — 26 Jul 2017
The 1988 Olympics were perhaps the most memorable ever, precisely because of the Jamaican Bobsled Team and Eddie the Eagle. Yes, excellence and a lifetime of training should be rewarded with fame and recognition, of course, but the Olympics was for amateurs, and a lifetime of training should be for pros.
When the Olympics was first started again, it was an end in itself and today it is a proving ground before going professional, in a way it was never intended to be .The brave person who decides and trains in later life and is a true amateur is, one who undertakes something with just guts, bravery and determination to see it through.
That is what Eddie the Eagle and the Jamaican Bobsled Team did, and was why they were so beloved and admired, so much so that each had a popular movie made out of their efforts, unlike those who actually won the gold medals.
Perhaps it is because they personify the dreams that we all had as children, that someday we would do great things because we wanted to do them so very much. Although this film is probably overly sentimentalized, it speaks to hearts, especially those of us who watched that Olympic games with bated breath and crossed our fingers for Eddie the Eagle and the Jamaicans.
When the Olympic Committee changed the rules so that there would be no more of Eddie's and the Jamaicans ilk in the Games, they took a lot of heart and excitement out of the Games and made it more of a private, professional country club or fancy private school.
We and the Games are the poorer for it. This film was a tribute to the spirit of determination and dreams that inspired the Olympic dream back in the beginning of the 20th century and senitimentel though it is, the script and performances are a true picture of the courage it takes to begin something as terrifying as starting to do a sport like ski jumping when you already in your twenties and have little training.
It certainly takes more courage than most of us have and that is what we honor in this flick and what makes it so inspiring.
This review of Eddie the Eagle (2016) was written by Frances H on 26 Jul 2017.
Eddie the Eagle has generally received positive reviews.
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