Eddie the Eagle

2016 biopic

Rating: 14/20

Plot: The true story of persevering Olympian ski jumper Eddie Edwards.

This was as quirky and endearing as the previews made it seem it would be even though what you think it's going to be going in is exactly what it ends up being. You have a pair of underdogs going through all the predictable motions you'd expect in a sports movie about underdogs, and even if you don't know the story of Eddie the Eagle (I really didn't), you already know the story of Eddie the Eagle. Hugh Jackman plays the exact same guy he plays in Reel Steel, and for whatever reason, it's impossible for me not to like him in stuff like this. Taron Egerton, from that Kingsman movie, was really good because he was completely likable. Eddie's an easy character to root for because your decades of movie watching experience tell you that you have to root for him.

So this isn't going to surprise you at all, but if you're in the mood for this sort of movie and want to see the formula applied to what's sort of a fringe sport, this will satisfy.