EDDIE THE EAGLE (2016)

A biographical film directed by Dexter Fletcher with a screenplay by Sean Macauley & Simon Kelton about Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards who became the first competitor to represent Great Britain in Olympic ski jumping is a rather delightful film of perseverance and determination by one man who was being written off by just about everyone but his mother. A story to appeal to the underdog in all of us, I remember when this story was happening at the Calgary Winter Olympic Games back in 1988. Certain liberties have been made with this cinematic retelling, for instance the Hugh Jackman character of Bronson Peary is acknowledged to have been fictional and only in the mind of Eddie, though he is very real on screen. This is a story heavy laden with clichés, but its telling is charming and uplifting with winning performances from Taron Egerton as Eddie and Hugh Jackman as Bronson. Perhaps the filmmakers should have stuck to the story as it really happened and it would have had more resonance with reality, never the less a good time should be had by all.