In the 1988 Calgary Olympics, British ski jumper “Eddie the Eagle” Edwards was dubbed “Mr. Magoo” by the press for his thick glasses and clumsy performance — and he loved it. A record setter by virtue of being the only Brit in his field, the affable Eddie was a hit with fans. I doubt that will be the case with this version of his story, a bland underdog fable whose comedy never makes it off the bunny slopes.
Handsome Taron Egerton (“Kingsman: The Secret Service”) uglies up to play the homely Eddie, which mainly involves wearing glasses and scrunching up his face. This results in his looking, a little creepily, like an adult version of the kid in “Jerry Maguire.”
Eddie is a single-minded fellow who lives only to be in the Olympics, despite having wonky knees and zero physical grace. No work or women or even casual conversation for Eddie, who lives with his parents (Keith Allen and Jo Hartley) and comes off at times as a British Forrest Gump. He chooses ski jumping due to its nonexistent representation on the UK team, and sets off to achieve his dream despite the long odds.
Hugh Jackman, as a (fictional) former American jumper named Bronson Peary, enlivens things a little. Now a cranky alcoholic, Bronson’s reluctantly drawn into coaching by Eddie, who faceplants in front of his snowplow rig and asks for a tip: “How do you land?”
Jackman and Egerton have reasonable comic chemistry, but the film has them dutifully repeating the same paces: Eddie falls, Bronson grumbles; Bronson coaches while grumbling, Eddie improves. It’s all set to a very synthy ’80s score, which matches the neon ski parkas of the era nicely.
Director Dexter Fletcher (“Sunshine on Leith”) also gets points for sheer weirdness with a Christopher Walken cameo; playing Bronson’s former coach, he seems to have wandered on from the adjoining set of a mob movie.
For any kid who’s been told they’re not good enough, “Eddie” would make a fine feel-good curative. Anyone else, though, may find this eagle never really takes off.