Eddie the Eagle, 2015

Eddie the Eagle is a 2016 biographical sports film directed by Dexter Fletcher. The film stars Taron Egerton as Michael Edwards, a British skier who in 1988 became the first competitor to represent Great Britain in Olympic ski jumping since 1928. Hugh Jackman, Christopher Walken, Iris Berben and Jim Broadbent co-star. The film had its world premiere at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival on 26 January 2016.[4]

The film was released by 20th Century Fox in Canada and the U.S on 27 February 2016 and by Lionsgate in the UK on 28 March 2016. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and in 2017 it was nominated for the Empire Award for Best British Film.

Plot

In 1973, after a long period of medical treatment for walking difficulties, ten-year-old Michael Edwards dreams of Olympic glory, practicing in various Olympic events and failing miserably. His mother supports him, while his father constantly discourages him. As a young teen, he gives up his dream of participating in the Summer Games in favour of skiing in the Winter Games. Although successful at the sport, he is rejected by British Olympic officials for being uncouth. Realising he could make the team as a ski jumper (a sport in which the United Kingdom had not participated for six decades), he decamps to a training facility in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, West Germany. The more seasoned jumpers, especially the Norwegian team, belittle him.

Edwards self-trains, and after successfully completing the 15-metre (49 ft) hill on his first try, he injures himself on his first attempt at a 40-metre (130 ft) slope. Alcoholic snow groomer Bronson Peary advises Eddie to give up, but Eddie's tenacious spirit and a shared sense of being an outsider convince Bronson to train Eddie. Peary is an American former champion ski jumper who left the sport in his twenties after a conflict with his mentor, Warren Sharp, as Eddie learns from Petra, a cafe owner who takes him in. With very little time to qualify for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Eddie and Bronson employ various unorthodox methods to condition and refine Eddie's form, and he successfully completes the 40m hill.

To qualify for the British Olympic division in ski jumping, Eddie only needs to complete a jump from a 70-metre (230 ft) hill. He manages to land the jump successfully, with a distance of 34 metres (112 ft), thus winning a place on the British Olympic Team. However, the officials, in an effort to keep Eddie from sullying the Winter Games with his amateurish skillset, change their criteria and demand that he jump at least 61 metres (200 ft). Though discouraged, Eddie decides to continue training and performs on a circuit, his jumps increasing in length each time.

While practicing for the final event before the cutoff date for qualification, he lands a 61m jump exactly, but misses the mark on his official jump and is disqualified. Eddie resolves to return home to work with his father as a plasterer, but he receives a letter stating that his qualifying practice jump is valid, and he tells Bronson that he is eligible to compete in the Winter Olympics. Bronson suggests he wait until the 1992 games and train for the next four years to give himself a better chance of winning a medal, concerned that he will make a fool of himself and his country if he goes ahead, but Eddie is undeterred, since simply competing in the Olympics was always his goal.

Upon arriving in Calgary, he is scorned by the other British competitors, who get him drunk so that he fails to attend the opening ceremonies. Despite finishing last in the 70m jump with 60.5 metres (198 ft), Eddie sets a British record. His triumphant celebrations win the audience over, and the media embrace him as Eddie "The Eagle". Over the phone, Bronson criticizes Edwards for not taking the sport seriously. Edwards publicly apologises for his antics and, wanting to ensure he does not leave the games without recognition, he enters the 90-metre (300 ft) jump, which he has never attempted before. Bronson now travels to the games to support him.

After an encouraging conversation with his idol Matti "The Flying Finn" Nykänen on the lift to the top of the hill, Eddie miraculously lands a 71.5-metre (235 ft) jump. Once again, he comes last in the event, but is nonetheless cheered by the audience and TV viewers worldwide, which earns him recognition in the closing speech of the President of the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, Frank King, who says, "You have broken world records. You have established many of your own personal bests and some of you have even soared like an Eagle". British Olympic officials grudgingly accept him.

Warren Sharp is reconciled with Bronson, and Edwards returns home a national hero, welcomed by fans at the airport, as well as his mother and father; the latter reveals he is wearing a jumper that says "I'm Eddie's dad," and says he is proud of him.