Fact-based sports stories should be among the easiest to write and produce, one would think, since the facts, the subjects and the outcomes are publicly known.  Sometimes they are and the results are spectacular — see Miracle (2004) or The Rookie (2002) as examples of how well true-life sports stories translate into top-notch movies.  And yet, other times truth is shelved in favor of feel-good fiction, which is what has happened with Eddie the Eagle.

Olympic fans may remember Michael Edwards, better known as Eddie.  He was a British ski jumper who finished last in the 1988 Calgary games, but served, somewhat like the famous Jamaican bobsled team, as a symbol that the Olympic spirit has more to do with hope and potential than actual championship.  After those games more stringent rules were put in place so that athletes of Eddie’s caliber — less than the best of the best — could not compete simply because of a dearth of athletes at a particular sport.  Edwards failed to qualify for any succeeding Olympic squad but is still evidently a popular personality in Britain.

Dexter Fletcher’s film casts Eddie Edwards (Taron Edgerton) as a likable, stubborn, regular guy with an Olympic dream.  Against all odds he finds a way in, only to be turned away by the British Olympic Committee, which finds him totally unsuitable.  He begins training with a talented coach (Hugh Jackman) and qualifies yet again, and at the Calgary games, his dream finally takes flight.

This is a feel-good story that works very well, even though most of it is fictional.  Anyone looking for the true story should visit Wikipedia, or other sources.  Eddie’s last place finish isn’t really important to the film; his spirit is.  There is a remarkable (and probably entirely fictional) scene between Eddie and baby-faced Finnish champion Matti Nykanen (Edvin Endre) that encapsulates its philosophy with perfect clarity.  I have to admit I liked this film a great deal; it’s a little less impressive now that I know how embellished it is.  ☆ ☆ ☆.  15 March 2016.