The trailer for
Eddie The Eagle intrigued me and I do remember the name given to the Ski-Jumper, but I still went into this pretty much in the dark. I had totally forgotten about him since his moment came and went at the
Winter Olympics back in
1988. It was actually during the grand finale scene that drives this movie that it dawned on me that I had in fact watched this live when it happened. But I never knew his back story. This film fills in all that and more. You can put this flick into the same box of
Rocky, Rudy, Miracle and
Invincible when it comes to watching a huge underdog striving to leave a mark in the sports world. The one difference between this flick and the others is that this isn't as serious in tone. There are humorous moments in
Eagle, but it's never at the expense of
Eddie or the film itself. This is a fun movie from start to finish and I thought that the opening 10 minutes of the movie did a fantastic job of getting the audience to immediately get on board with
Eddie. It's quite endearing. Once you are on his side, you just can't stop rooting for the guy. It all comes to a head when it comes down to THE jump of his life. To say that watching the scene play out in the way that it does is satisfying, is an understatement. It's exhilerating! It will leave you with a big smile on your face and perhaps a tear in your eyes.
Both
Taron Egerton and
Huge Jackman are great together,
Taron in particular is nearly unrecognizable in his role and is damn good. I actually wasn't even able to place
Taron's face until the Making of Documentary as I didn't pay attention to the DVD cover art or the credits. I knew him from somewhere, I just never put two and two together. When they start talking about
Kingsman: The Secret Service in the doc, it floored me even more in his ability to transform from one kind of character to another. Anyway, I highly recommend
Eddie The Eagle if you are looking for a feel good flick. I'd watch this again for sure. Definitely check out the Making of Bonus on the DVD for some inside information that will put a lot of what Eddie did into perspective. Mind boggling exactly what he did and the odds he did it against and coming out alive at the end.