REVIEW: Eddie The Eagle

Eddie the Eagle took centre stage at the Calgary Olympics in 1988, not to fly the farthest, but to merely compete.  And that, in a nutshell, is the same feeling that one could get from the recently released biopic, Eddie the Eagle.  This film, directed by Dexter Flesher, is no champion amongst other sports films.  It bobs and weaves to all of the familiar beats, with a script that fits in almost every cliche of the genre.

However, it did leave me smiling at the end.  We get a very honest performance from Taron Egerton, whom,  I am assuming from his ripped physique in Kinsmen: The Secret Service, added on a few pounds to get the proper shape of the title character.  Egerton works for nuance with the character, and it goes over well for the most part.  Unfortunately, it is the script that keeps a lot of what Egerton is doing at the surface level.  There are very few glimpses of anything more than an unending spring of optimism, and, especially given the skills of Egerton, making Edwards feel more realistic would have gone a long way in creating a protagonist that there could be more connection with.

While the movie unfolds, there are many moments where it is easily spotted that reality must have been deviated from as it is over reliant on cliches of sports dramas.  One of the most atrocious offenders is the over-done person who is out of the game and doesn't want any part of it, only to be sucked in by the personality and the ambition of the hero.  This role is played by Hugh Jackman, an alcoholic former ski jumper who wants nothing to do with the sport, and especially nothing to do with training Eddie Edwards.  But, wouldn't you know, he is finally brought out of retirement to help the underdog pursue his dreams, the whole while battling his own inner demons.

Along the way, there are plenty of doubters and haters that Edwards has to deal with.  These are the most cartoonish elements of the film, as any antagonistic character is as thin as a playing card and as ridiculous as the rendering of the king or queen that inhabits it.  There are plenty of straight edged suits and snide ski jumpers who will mock Edwards and attempt to discourage him along the way.  I understand that you need some tension in a film, but let's not have it come from the sports film equivalent of a Bond villain in a ski jumping unitard.

It can be a mess at times that you swear you have seen many times before.  And you probably have.  Luckily there is the fun and vibrant score from Matthew Margeson.  It focuses on using instrumental elements from the 1980s while still having a modern touch to it.  It is probably the most unrestrained aspect of the movie, and does well to add to those moments when we are to cheer for The Eagle.

I did mention previously that it left me smiling at the end, but the journey to get there was not a smooth one.  There was a lot of fractured narrative that got spoiled by the script just blazing along to portray a typical underdog story with everything that has been used in the past.  The script, and the director's adherence to it, feels like the ultimate issue in Eddie the Eagle.  Cliche can work in a sports film, as we saw in Creed.  There just needs to be a personalized energy to it, and Eddie the Eagle had little of that.

Rating - 2 out of 4 stars