Eddie the Eagle

Eddie the Eagle, 2016

Directed by Dexter Fletcher, 106 minutes

Taron Edgerton, Hugh Jackman

Review by Katherine Scheetz

Set in the age of Charles and Diana chinaware, Taron Edgerton is Eddie Edwards, the massively far-sighted son of a “plucky plasterer” and born with “dodgy knees.” But his ambition to become an Olympian – and his precious and supportive mother (Jo Hartley) – stop at nothing to get him to the 1988 Olympics.

From the time Edwards knocks the entire British ski team down domino style, to his scrunched up nose as he wipes the his fogged up glasses with his fingers, Edgerton is idiotically charming. His jowl-heavy frown before each jump is well studied.

Writers Sean Macaulay and Simon Kelton light the story with panache. Lines roll trippingly and with the exception of the excessive heart-to-hearts, there are no wipe-outs.

Among the over-abundance of training montages, the height of entertainment is reached when fallen-from-grace ski jumper Peary (Jackman), rolling his eyes, decides to help the determined “gum on his shoe,” aka Eddie. Talking Eddie through the art of bringing Bo Derek to her full as a method of approach for the 70-meter jump, Eddie leaps into Peary’s arms, Dirty Dancing-style, over and over until he lets out a little “wee” in – let’s be British about this – excitement.

Aided by a synthesizer driven soundtrack, the buoyancy of Eddie’s optimism leaks right out of the screen. And while the movie isn’t heavy on cinematic flair, the Alps make for beautiful establishing shots and the symmetry of Peary’s aviator sunglasses is subtly appreciated.

The wardrobe department nails it by equipping the Edwards’ family with a badass collection of jumpers (we see what you did there, Fletcher). Points for reminding us of Mrs. Weasley’s Christmas sweaters.

 Eddie’s biopic might be formulaic, but the witty writing comes to life through the bromance of Peary and Eddie and its undeniable charm is as technicolor as an 80s workout video.   

Visit our Get Involved page to learn about our previous donations to Game Rangers International Elephant Orphanage Project and visit us again for our next opportunity to give to animal sanctuaries across the globe.