Review of Eddie the Eagle (2016) by Dawdlingpoet — 24 Nov 2021

This is a sports related comedy drama film based on a true story (aka with a biopic element), covering themes of hope and perserverance while featuring a loveable underdog in the main role. Eddie comes across as quite naive but in an endearing way - someone who wouldn't let those around him force him to give up his dream. Yes its relatively cheesy/corny and the ending is relatively obvious but I found it to be an enjoyable watch regardless.

I thought the music used was judged well for the most part in not being especially distracting or overpowering (i.e. loud), certainly in the first half of the film. It was fairly understated, somewhat subtle towards the start, although there were some synth-y segments but then that makes it sound quite 80s-ish, which of course makes sense in as much as the film is set in the 1980s. The use of songs becomes a bit more overstated and less subtle towards the end of the film, for fairly obvious reasons. Some scenes feature chart pop songs from the 80s and examples of such tracks played include Two Tracks by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, The Sky's The Limit by Nik Kershaw and Real Gone Kid by Deacon Blue.

The dialogue seemed reasonable. There were some quite amusing moments, mainly between Eddie and Bronson. Its safe to say that egos are at play at times, although Eddie doesn't necessarily realise this. Cast wise, Eddie is played by Jack Costello. Eddie both looks and sounds like a bit of a dreamer, being relatively naive (as I say) while also clearly passionate and you could say quite courageous as well. As a character, he appears somewhat geeky and reserved (shy) and as such I felt he was a character that was easy to wish the best for. I found his optimism rather uplifting (I did say it was a cheesy film!). The other main character is Bronson, played by Hugh Jackman. He comes across as very cocky and very dismissive of Eddie at first but also a warm, caring companion in time. He tries his best to be realistic and helpful in his coaching Eddie, while shielding him from some aspects and I'd say he is the sort of character that we'd all like to know. Other characters include Warren Sharp, played by Christopher Walken (although his is a brief appearance), Richmond the BOA official, played by Mark Benton and Dustin Target, played by Tim McInnerny.

The film features some nice landscape shots of Canada and other mountainous areas Eddie obviously 'cuts his teeth on'. There are some nice shots of sunrise and sunset as well and generally I felt the camerawork was handled quite well - there are also some good examples of jumps shown from particularly good angles to demonstrate the distance covered. Content wise, the film contains some mild profanities, a few sex references by the coach but I imagine these would go over the head of particularly young kids (at a guess) and a few scenes of skiiers who have crash landings when attempting to jump. Otherwise there's nothing really to note - the film carries a PG rating to reflect this.

I found myself with my head between my hands, feeling almost at the edge of my seat during the most nerve wracking scenes. Of course its easy to find out what happens but that doesn't make it seem any less nervewracking to watch the key jumping attempts and other key scenes, or so I found. I found it overall a very enjoyable film to watch, as I felt quite emotionally attached to Eddie for the loveable, if but rather childish, person he's portrayed to be. I could really feel for the character when he was doubting his ability and feeling his passion, his strength to want to prove people wrong.

I felt his story was ultimately quite inspirational and it was a fairly heartwarming watch in general, one that should be suitable for the majority of a family to watch, so if your looking for something to entertain a few generations of a family then this may well be worth considering.

Yes I'd recommend this film as I found it an entertaining and enjoyable watch. I thought the cast were good, there was some decent camerawork and the soundtrack was fun. It certainly is sentimental and cheesy but thats pretty much what you should expect of such a film really, isn't it?. For what it is, its not bad and so I'd recommend it.