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The film makers themselves warn you with the movie being publicized as a feel-good, underdog tale that provides family entertainment. And that is EXACTLY what this movie is!!! And even though the movie does not bring in anything new or more than what was expected from it, it is definitely a good watch.

The characters are extremely likable and the movie will have you rooting for 'Eddie' in no time.

From what I have read, the movie was not shot in Canada and is very loosely based on the actual life of the real Eddie the Eagle, so people from Calgary and people who actually know a lot about the real Eddie might be slightly disappointed.

Everyone loves a good underdog story, and sports films have always been a good avenue for those stories to thrive. I know a lot of people like to complain sometimes about 'biopics' and how they should be as close to the source material as possible, but I look at it a different way. I go to the movies for an experience. Whether that be to laugh, cry, smile, or whatever, I go for the experience. If a film would be better off taking plenty of liberties, I'm all for it. Eddie the Eagle definitely took that philosophy, and for the most part, it really worked.

First of all, I have to give a shout out to Elk Grove Cinema (not that they would actually be reading this) for inviting me to a preview screening of the film a few weeks before its wide release. Of course I jumped at the opportunity considering Hugh Jackman and the up and comer Taron Egerton were starring in a sports film, especially a seemingly uplifting one at that. The film absolutely did not disappoint. Similar to last week's Finest Hours, I went in with mediocre expectations, and came out very pleasantly satisfied with what I got. It's a feel good story that I think everyone can get behind. Eddie dreamed his entire life of competing in the Olympics and was told that he would never make it, naturally that's someone we would root for.

The good thing is that Egerton does more than just portray a sympathetic character. He transforms into Eddie the Eagle. I didn't know much about him before the film but it seems like he really pulled off Edwards' emotions and body language to a T. Jackman is also very good as the clichéd drunk washed up trainer that takes Eddie from being a wannabe to an Olympic athlete. I think that's what a lot of people will come out of the film saying, it's so clichéd. To an extent, they're not wrong. Each and every character is the prototype of what you would expect them to be, whether they are supporting Eddie or entirely against him. But I also don't think it was always a detriment to the film. Sometimes the clichés worked.

As I said, the film is incredible satisfying. It's one of the best examples of a pure crowd-pleaser. There's not much to dislike about the film. I absolutely loved the music choices including the score and some timely 80's song choices. Sure, I think the stakes could have been raised a bit here or there to give an even bigger emotional moment, but I can't say the film didn't already bring me to teary eyes at some points. And that to me, is an experience at the movies.

+Emotionally satisfying

+Egerton is terrific

+Music

+Jackman

-Some clichés are unnecessary

7.5/10

If ever there was a feel-good movie, this is it! Based on a true story, this film is suspenseful, dramatic and hilarious all in one, resulting in an insanely entertaining feature. Taron Egerton is brilliant as hero Eddie Edwards. He conveys emotion so well that you feel every feeling, every failure and every triumph. He is perfect as the nerd, likable hero and champion. Hugh Jackman is perfectly cast as a has-been champion who unwillingly becomes Eddie's coach. His 'Bo Derek' scene is fabulously hilarious and brilliantly acted.

As a Southern-Californian, snow might as well come from a different world. We receive at the most, a few flurries in the winter, but even then, it needs to be on a full moon on a leap year if it's not Tuesday. That said, we can still provide a wealth of athletes in sports that are played in the winter. Both local ice hockey teams, the Anaheim Ducks and the Los Angeles Kings, have won the Stanley Cup and are seen as some of the best hockey teams in America. Shaun White, famous snowboarder, hails from San Diego and Michelle Kwan, the figure skater, is from the L.A. area.

The lesson here is that a champion can come from anywhere. A good movie that provides this example is Cool Runnings from Disney. This portrays the country of Jamaica creating a bobsled team for the 1988 Winter Olympics. Though goofy and clearly not a realistic representation of what happened, the movie was upbeat about one following their dreams to become an Olympic athlete. What's interesting that today's movie was set during the same 1988 Olympics. Eddie the Eagle looks at an aspiring ski jumper as he tries to go fro the gold.

Ever since he was a young boy, Eddie Edwards has wanted to go to the Olympics, yet has little athletic skill. He tries his hand at several sports until he sees skiing as his best shot. As an adult, Eddie (played by Taron Egerton) seems to be doing well, he's not selected to join the British downhill skiing team due to his odd technique and just simply not being one of the best. He then sees that the country has not had a ski jumper in a long time, and decides to take advantage of that empty spot to secure a spot.

He packs his bags for Germany at the official training facility where his attempts to mingle with the other ski jumpers are met with laughter. While trying out the hills, he comes across alcoholic snow groomer Bronson Peary (played by Hugh Jackman). Eddie finds out that he used to be a part of the American Olympic team under the coaching of Warren Sharp (played by Christopher Walken). He takes pity and agrees to give Eddie the proper coaching. Eddie manages to win a local match that qualifies him to join the Olympic team. While the odds of winning are low, he's happy to be chasing his dream.

Eddie the Eagle sounds like your run of the mill sport biography and…basically is…but it's also self aware of that and has fun with itself. I can't think of another movie where ski jumping is portrayed and it looks really cool on a cinematic scale. The sport's high flying action allows for some impressive shots to prove that it was not computer generated.

Like Cool Runnings, it's also clearly not using the same story, given how silly a lot of the scenes flow. While it's not laugh out loud hilarious, it makes up by being just as upbeat as the latter. Taron Egerton is proving his worth as an actor, managing to be the perfect athlete and dweeb in one crazy experiment. You know his character is out of their element, but Taron makes him very likable. Hugh Jackman does well as his coach, more or less throwing in a lot of his charm and ability to play off the comedic writing to his advantage. Hugh gains cool points for his shot of ski jumping with a cigarette in his mouth.

Going into Eddie the Eagle, you really need to be in the right mood for it to hit you in the right spot.

I'll give this eight and a half ski jumpers out of ten. Those that want a gripping story of an athlete should look someplace else. But for those that want something upbeat like Cool Runnings and Rudy, then Eddie the Eagle should please you well enough. Despite the premise, this is no downhill crash; it's a flier that knows where to land.

I've seen some sport films through the years but I've actually never seen one about ski jumping. Eddie the Eagle is the truth based story of the British ski jumper Michael "Eddie" Edwards who participated in the 1988 Olympic winter games in Calgary, Canada. Eddie has since childhood, dreamed of becoming an Olympic participant. When he gets older and is denied to compete in downhill skiing by the British committee, he decides to try ski jumping instead. The problem is that the Olympic games is one year away and Eddie has never before in his life tried ski jumping. The incredibly charming Taron Egerton plays Eddie the Eagle and Hugh Jackman also takes part as the drunken American ex pro jumper Bronson Peary.

Classic underdog stories always works well within the sport genre and really are a well played card by now. And yet there is something with the story about Eddie that grabs hold of me. Nobody believes in him, he is odd and rather strange. Despite dealing with all the resistance and sometimes humiliation, he never gives up. The thing that also really keeps me interested is the ski jumping. I have always found that sport pretty funny, but I now seriously have to confess that I would never dare to jump that high with skis on. Hugh Jackman's mentor character is actually very cliché and perhaps a bit exaggerated. They should probably have toned him down to add a little more realism in the story.

According to the filmmakers the story is really not that truthful, especially not the parts about Eddie Edward's life outside of ski jumping. His result and what happened to him is however not changed that much, but besides that much of the story is made for film. I really don't think that's a problem. I rank Rocky as my favorite sport film and it is because I think that the ultimate sport film needs an underdog story. It is actually the same thing here in Eddie the Eagle. A struggle for the little man and a display with an encouragement to never give up. Perhaps well needed in our sometimes dark world.

David Lindahl - www.filmografen.se