Eddie the Eagle (2016) * * *

Directed by:  Dexter Fletcher

Starring:  Taron Egerton, Hugh Jackman, Keith Allen, Jo Hartley, Tim McInnerny, Christopher Walken

I watched Eddie the Eagle two nights ago and I was prepared to give it two and a half stars.    But, something about Eddie's spirit kept me interested to learn more about him.     Like any movie based on true events, there are fictional characters and time is condensed to appear it took its title character a lot less time to learn ski jumping than he actually did.      I vaguely recall hearing his name bandied about during the Olympics, although I had to be reminded it was the 1988 Calgary games.      He was a popular figure at those games, not because he was competitive (he finished last in both events in which he competed), but because he was an underdog whose lifelong mission was to be an Olympian.    He never said anything about actually winning.

Partly true and partly movie clichés, Eddie the Eagle still has an infectious spirit.     Was the man himself this nerdy and nonathletic?    No.    In fact, he was also an accomplished speed skier who just missed making the cut for the 1984 British team.     He took up ski jumping because Great Britain didn't have a ski jumping team.     Qualifying is much easier when you are the only one jumping.    The International Olympic Committee has since passed the "Eddie the Eagle" rule, which made it much more difficult for Olympians to qualify for their events.     The movie makes no mention of this because it doesn't want to rain on the parade.     Eddie came along as just the right time and made enough of an impact for Hollywood to make a movie about him.     The "Flying Finn", who dominated the Olympics that year, has no movies made about him to my knowledge.    So there you go.

Michael "Eddie" Edwards (Egerton) is a nerdy klutz who dreams of being an Olympian.    He is not coordinated enough to handle track and field, but learns skiing almost because he is out of options.     He is kept off the 1984 skiing team by the taciturn a-hole Target (McInnerny), whose sole purpose in life seems to be keeping Eddie as far away from the Olympics as possible.     Target has a specific idea in mind for who an Olympian should be, and Eddie isn't it.     Eddie will show him and takes up ski jumping.   

He travels to a famed ski jumping training center in Germany where the Olympic hopefuls from other countries mock him.    They have been training to be ski jumpers since age 6.     This 22-year old with the Coke bottle bottom glasses doesn't stand a chance.     Eddie is able to convince former ski jumper turned course custodian Bronson Peary to train him.    Peary rejects him over and over again, until Eddie finally wears him down with his relentless optimism and determination.     Peary could have been an all-time great, according to his former coach Warren Sharp (Walken), but never reached those heights.     Maybe drinking had something to do with it.      Maybe he sees Eddie as a chance to redeem himself.     It's a cliché, yes, but it works.  

Only a miserable wretch would root against Eddie.     As played by Egerton, he is determined, plucky, indefatigable, and awkward.    His bottom lip juts out and eerily reminds us of Bubba from Forrest Gump.    He encounters naysayers, including his own father (Allen), who thinks he should go into the family business of plastering.     He is mocked and pushed around, but this only strengthens his resolve.    His nickname "The Eagle" is derisive.    When he jumps his personal best distance, even though it is nowhere near the winning distance, we feel good for him as he basks in his 15 minutes of fame.     Why not?    It is miraculous he even got that far.

Director Fletcher is able to show us the treacherous height and speed involved in this sport.     People who crash land will more likely than not break multiple bones.     When a jumper soars through the air, the movie captures this experience deftly.     Eddie the Eagle seems like a movie about an underdog sports hero that has been made one hundred times before.     But, I liked it despite all of that.     It doesn't come as much of a surprise that Eddie did not qualify for the next three Winter Olympic Games, but all of that would have been gravy anyway.     The movie wisely doesn't mention this.    Sometimes small victories are enough.