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'Eddie the Eagle': Doesn't Soar
By Michael S. Goldberger, iBerkshires Film Critic
01:33PM / Friday, March 04, 2016
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I didn't mind too terribly the obviousness and predictability of director Dexter Fletcher's "Eddie the Eagle," a biopic about the underdog (and lone) British ski jumper who charmed everyone at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.

Rather, I let its goodwill and well-meaning parable about determination in the face of overwhelming odds wash over me, giving the movie points for its unpretentious, Disney-like sincerity. Such basic, filmic oases far from the cynicism of cutting edge this, hi-tech that and metaphor-loaded obscurities are nature's way of rebooting our brains.

You get what you see, and nothing much more: a pleasant ride through the sweet and polite, Golden Book variety of ambition, featuring, of course, the most unlikely of heroes. Bespectacled, hardly an Adonis, and actually a bit chunky of frame, the thought is that, if Eddie the Eagle can do it, then little Jimmy can, too. But rest assured, young potential ski jumper, podiatrist, actuary or fan dancer, if such is the case, it'll take hard work. Naysayers, misanthropes and pessimists will conjure an equal amount of determination just to try and convince you that you can't do it.

In that curious vein, a darker version of this movie, were it to be produced, might studiously examine just why practically everyone but Eddie's mom, played by Jo Hartley, is out to dash the would be Olympian's dreams. His dad, a laborer portrayed by Keith Allen, demands that his offspring, who he caustically informs is "no athlete," forsake his wishes for the glorious world of plastering. Gee, tough decision. Happily, we are spared from said hypothetical, bleak variation, where a forever regretful Eddie nonetheless rises to the presidency of the Plasterers Union.

Nope, he's on his way, and no one can dissuade him. Depicted by Taron Egerton, he appears hardwired to his cause, evincing a seemingly impervious shell of grit and chutzpah, as much a function of his DNA as it is the result of a childhood ailment that forced him to wear leg braces.

Naturally, only we and his mom take him seriously and, despite the fact it's based on a true story, we aren't always so sure of his true potential. Nearly everyone in the cast is a detractor.

Heck, even Hugh Jackman's Bronson Peary, the former American ski jumper who finally accedes to coaching Eddie, doesn't think the young Brit has the proverbial ice cube's chance in Hell. But then, as the failed prodigy who could have been something were it not for his drinking, Peary has to feel that way — at least at first. He's the subplot, his redemption and destiny inevitably tied to Eddie the Eagle's fortunes like a wet shoelace. We count on his epiphany.

Other stereotypes shamelessly cascade. This isn't good filmmaking. It isn't even very good biography. Although fantastical sells, I suggest that the title character had a lot more talent than is related. But while a documentary might have better informed us about Eddie, it would steal the fairy dust. So, with no coronation ball to attend, no U.N. to address and, alas, no Nobel Prize to claim, I was in no hurry to flee this harmless palate cleanser. Besides, popcorn, Whoppers and Diet Coke taste just as good with mediocre movies as they do with "Citizen Kane" (1941).

All this noted, while Edgerton won't be winning any thespic gold for his performance, he commendably makes the most of his star turn by finding and maintaining an enamoring nerdiness. Aided by makeup that effectively belies his movie actor looks, he is the geek that could — approachable, nice, the kid next door who surprises you when he grows up and actually gets a job.

On the contrary, and even a bit odd, is Jackman's clichéd failure. Surely a less obvious portrayal wouldn't have derailed the fable's purposely hackneyed mode.

Rounding out the dramatis personae, pretty Iris Berben is OK as the ski bum's equivalent to Susan Sarandon's aging baseball player afflatus in "Bull Durham" (1988), the sexy nymph no aspiring athlete should be without. Jim Broadbent is the emotive BBC commentator who takes special pleasure in extolling the incredibility of his fellow countryman. And, though on screen for but a scant minute, Christopher Walken as a legendary ski jump coach convinces that he is aboard only to uncannily prove his cinematic magnetism.

The acid test in evaluating the watchability of all middling movies asks, will you revisit it when it plays the flatscreen? My answer is no, not if there's anything else to watch. However, if vacationing in some mountain retreat where you're not supposed to want television anyway, but you're lying to yourself and "Eddie the Eagle" is playing on the only station the little tube TV gets, I'd certainly fly with that before resorting to the omnipresent Chinese checkers board the cabin owner has so graciously supplied.

"Eddie the Eagle," rated PG-13, is a Twentieth Century Fox release directed by Dexter Fletcher and stars Taron Egerton, Hugh Jackman and Jo Hartley. Running time: 136 minutes

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