Truly inspirational! Eddie the Eagle is an inspiring biopic about following your dreams despite the world trying to pull you down. The movie justifies all those maxims you might have come across growing up like – “Follow your dreams!”, “Never give up!” and all those perseverance clichés. But the most important one that I take out from the movie is – “Celebrate every little success”.
EDDIE THE EAGLE OLYMPIAN DREAM
Looking at the bright insightful eyes of young Eddie where dreams skulked somewhere deep down, scouring persistently for his life’s true objective, your heart might end up brimming up with empathy for the poor lad. Also, looking at his gusto to settle on a dream, his constant search as he zeroes in on what he truly wants to become might leave you disappointed in yourself.
Did you once have a passion you were never able give a proper form to? Something that made you so happy, and yet you decided to listen to those who inadvertently stopped you from doing it? Well Eddie never listened to anybody but his heart, and that made all the difference.
PLOT OF THE BIOPIC
Eddie the Eagle tries to weigh in on the biopic of the real Michael Edwards in a delightful mien. It will let you bag all the good feels as the movie goes on jumping around in them Eddie shoes. The journey starts off in a pleasant manner but there is that hurdle in the form of Terry, Eddie’s dad played by Keith Allen who constantly tries to dissuade him from doing what Eddie really loves.
“Are you trying to tell me you never had a dream when you were a kid, Dad?”
He is instantly reflective of the world, something that is trying to stop one from achieving one’s ultimate goal. Our lives are inundated with such characters who are pressing us constantly to steer from our path. It is a good thing that Terry is there in the movie and that he never approved of him that makes Eddie the Eagle further powerful as he says he loves to prove people wrong.
Eddie the Eagle struggles profusely as he tries in his own candid way to get himself the spot everybody denies him. But there was no stopping him, the perseverance he shows to achieve is worth commendable.
SPOILERS SKI-JUMPING FROM THIS POINT ONWARDS:
There are plenty of brilliant acts in the movie. A pleasant side-plot that Hugh Jackman runs is endearing to watch. Christopher Walken and Jim Broadbent cameo were lovely.
One short parley with Matti Nykänen played by Edvin Endre is downright outstanding. Beautiful lines lurk in their confab, and you can’t help but marvel at the colossal importance of it.
If we do less than our best with the whole world watching, it will kill us inside.
CONS
The movie’s melodrama is a bit questionable. It doesn’t fling anything gut-wrenching at you. Hugh Jackman’s bar fight scene looks like strangely concocted in a clichéd fashion. Taron Egerton often goes in and out of his character multiple times. However does create his version of Eddie beautifully with that constant frown and that wide jaw framing.
Another thing that cannot be completely overlooked is that the beauty of the sport hasn’t been milked enough. For a guy who has set his eyes on something so huge as ski-jumping there has to be a story to it, or if there isn’t, we needed a better screenplay coming from Eddie The Eagle justifying his love for the sport. The film misses both. It goes too light for a dream so big.
Also, eventually as the movie comes to fruition it vexes the viewers into questioning whether Eddie the Eagle was crazy or completely sane. The way the movie was depicted right from the start would have you believe that he was alright but then afterwards it was kind of hard to tell.
It also, in an attempt to deliberately dodge the question of Eddie’s progress, fails to show where Eddie really stood. The fact that it’s okay to come last should have been milked more because that was actually the crux on which the movie was based. Celebrating defeating himself, his own personal record was what overjoyed him more, which I think required more screen time.
Also, there was a lot of fact changing going on that distorted the real Eddie the Eagle, Michael Edward. As Michael Edward puts it that it clicked with his life only 5% which raises brows at its accuracy.
THE FINAL VERDICT
Eddie the Eagle might not be a hero one hunts for in a movie, as he always ends up coming last, but there is a lot of heroism one could derive from him, with his free spirit, his perseverance, his attitude, and his constant pursuit for the stars.
You can check out the trailer of Eddie the Eagle here:
Eddie the Eagle
Pros
- Carries a pleasant tone throughout
- Very inspirational
- Eddie's character is an epitome of a go-getter
Cons
- A lot of fact-changing
- Lacks sports contouring
- Cliched bits
