Eddie the Eagle film review ★★★★★

It was only a matter of time before someone decided to make an Eddie the Eagle biopic. The British ski jumper’s refusal to accept his own sporting mediocrity, and his miraculous qualification for the Winter Olympics is the kind of story arc that’s practically screaming for silver screen adaptation. Unfortunately, director Dexter Fletcher’s effort falls short of the mark.

It’s a film that’s not only set three decades ago, but which feels like it was made around then too. Much about the film is dated, but it’s the training montage that really stands out. It aims for playfully retro, and ends up downright embarrassing. It’s the same elsewhere; the film is too short on wit for its attempts at knowing anachronism to work.

Taron Egerton stars as the man himself, and goes some way to salvaging the film; if Eddie the Eagle has a saving grace, it’s the genuine charm and eccentricity which he brings to the role. Hugh Jackman’s character, however, is a walking, talking trope. He’s brought in as Eddie’s hard-drinking American coach, a man whose once-promising ski-jumping career was abruptly cut short. In reality, no such man existed; he’s been written into the story, and his fictionality certainly shows. It’s perhaps not Jackman’s fault; the screenplay can’t have given him much room for manoeuvre.

Eddie The Eagle could be good fun, but ends up rather lacklustre.