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Also Known As: - |
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| Year of first release: 2016 | |
| Director: Dexter Fletcher | |
| Actors: Taron Egerton, Hugh Jackman, Iris Berben | |
| Country: GB, USA, D |
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| Genre: Comedy | |
| Conditions of visioning: 14.03.2016, Schauburg, OV Sneak Preview, English version | |
| Synopsis: A courageous British ski-jumper Michael "Eddie" Edwards (Egerton) never stopped believing in himself as an Olympian since kid. Despite burdens from the British Olympic committee he struggles. With the help of an ex-champion Bronson Peary (Jackman), Eddie takes on the establishment and wins the hearts of sports fans around the world by participating in the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. | |
| Review: The originality of the movie is to bring the Olympian spirit of Coubertin on the screen. Not the motto "Faster, Higher, Stronger" like in the great Chariots of fire but the "participation is more important than winning" ("L'important c'est de participer") like in the great comedy and almost unknown Gachi boy, wrestling with a memory (seen in FEFF2008). The story is thus no blockbuster, or more like a cheap sport movie. Even if Hugh Jackman is cast. There is a lot of humour in this comedy. The inhibited father, the supporting mother, the groupie Petra, the Norvegian team, the presupposed silent Finnish champion Matti Nykänen. All these characters have something funny and bring comedy to the otherwise dramatic life of Eddie. Some scenes introduce a situation comedy using the character comedy and this becomes time to time hilarious. The acting is a bit stereotyped but is ok. The directing focuses on the characters. There is also a short sequence presenting videos of the real people and this gives a hint on what was the reality of these characters. From the posters, the colour of the van changes all the time. Up to you to make your mind on the real colour by watching the movie. |
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Rating: 7 /10
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More than entertainment, an Art.
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Eddie the Eagle (2016)
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Following your review I have watched Eddie the Eagle on 17.11.2016 via an in-flight entertainment system on a 10" tablet screen. I found it to be a nice feel-good movie easy to watch but pushing a bit the envelope sometimes especially with the over-present music. It was anyway nice to follow this underdog story based on true events that occurred in fact at the same Olympic games as the ones that inspired another movie: Cool Runnings (1993) with the famous Jamaican Bobsleigh team. There is even a mention to them in the background during the movie.
ReplyDeleteIt also made me thing about the unknown but hilarious Japano-Finnish mockumentary Ski Jump Pairs seen at the FEFF2006.
But as you mention, the best in this movie is the call to the Olympic Creed that reads: "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well", in contrast to the Olympic Motto of "Citius, Altius, Fortius".
Soon after I watched the classic Chariots of Fire and even though I didn't find it great like you, I agree that it has a more "Faster, Higher, Stronger" spirit very different from the one in Eddie the Eagle.
My rating also 7/10 for the movie simplicity and honesty. Do not forget the quick apparition by Christopher Walken.