Eddie the Eagle (2016)

EDDIE THE EAGLE  (2016)  ¢ ¢ ¢
    D: Dexter Fletcher
    Taron Egerton, Hugh Jackman, Jo Hartley,
    Keith Allen, Tim McInnerney, Edvin Endre,
    Jim Broadbent, Matt Rippy, Christopher Walken
An all-out feel-good movie based on the story of Eddie Edwards ("Eddie the Eagle"), a working-class bloke who crashed the Olympic ski-jumping competition in 1988, despite a glaring lack of Olympic-caliber skills, because he was crazy and determined and because nobody else was representing Britain in the sport. So Eddie (Taron Egerton) overcomes ridiculously long odds to reach Calgary, and his boozy coach (Hugh Jackman) gets a shot at redemption, while Eddie's devoted mum and skeptical dad watch nervously on the telly back home. There's not a sports cliche that doesn't get turned over in this, but, hey, you know what? Who cares? Most of us have a lot more in common with Eddie the Eagle than with the elite jocks who end up on the medal stands, and if somebody out there wants to make a shameless crowd-pleaser celebrating the elation that goes with competing and not just winning, I'm okay with that. Go, Eddie.