Eddie the Eagle

At 4,409 feet in elevation, Ben Nevis is Great Britain’s highest mountain.  In relative terms, that means the peak is further from the low lands around it than Pat’s Knob is from the Clark Fork Valley, but not as high as Baldy.  And that’s the highest point in Britain.  It is no wonder that Britain has never been known as a powerhouse of skiing talent.  In fact, despite competing in every Winter Olympics since the inception of the games in 1924, it was only in 2014, at Sochi, Russia, that Britain got its first medal for skiing, a bronze taken by Jenny Jones in the Women’s Slopestyle Competition—a snowboarding event held for the first time that year.  That doesn’t mean that the Brits haven’t tried in the past, just that the country really isn’t known for its expertise on skis.

Michael Edwards was one of those Brits who did try, and despite being the best Britain had to offer at the time, he failed, miserably, as it were, to the point that the International Olympic Committee instituted a new rule about qualifying for events which they named for Mr. Edwards.  When he competed at Calgary in 1988, he was already the British ski jumping record holder, number nine in the world for amateur speed skiing, and world record holder for stunt jumping.  Although he had tried for a spot on Britain’s 1984 team, he was unsuccessful.  To train for 1988, he moved to Lake Placid, New York, hoping for experience in a more challenging environment and switched from speed skiing to ski jumping because there was less competition.  (He was the *only* British ski jumper.)  Although he was twenty pounds heavier than his closest competitor, and entirely self-funded, he was accepted as an Olympian and went to Calgary to compete in the 70 meter and 90 meter jumps.  So near sighted that he had to wear his glasses while competing, he was essentially blind as his glasses fogged over completely during his runs.   Sports writers called him Mr. Magoo, after the famously near-blind cartoon character.   He finished dead last in both events, but won the hearts of sports fans.  It is his story that is depicted in Dexter Fletcher’s film Eddie the Eagle. 

Fletcher has an impressive list of credits, but is probably not well known to American audiences.  He is primarily an actor, having appeared in such films as Bugsy Malone (at age 10), Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and the Muppets Most Wanted movie where his cameo role ended up on the editing floor.  He’s been in no end of British television shows, as well as the HBO series Band of Brothers, but his directing has been limited to three films to date:  Wild Bill (2011), Sunshine on the Leith (2013), and Eddie the Eagle (2016).  Edwards is played by British actor Taron Egerton who is probably best known to American audiences for his role in the 2014 movie Kingsman: The Secret Service.  I have to admit that only three names in the cast list stood out for me:  Hugh Jackman, who plays Eddie’s trainer (a fictional role not based on any real person), Christopher Walken, and British Character Actor Jim Broadbent, whom you may recognize from the Harry Potter movies.

Eddie the Eagle opened at Sundance in January, 2016 and then in theatrical release in the U.S. on February 26, 2016.  If you haven’t heard much about this movie, you’re not alone.  Opening weekend receipts totaled just over $6 million, and total receipts to date (through March 11) have been just shy of $13.5 million.  At this rate it will take a while for the movie to recoup its estimated cost of $23 million.  The film is rated PG-13 because of some suggestive language, some partial nudity, and smoking. (Yes, smoking!)  By the way, Olympic records show that Britain had three ski jumpers at the very first Winter Olympics in 1924, but 1988 was the next time Britain fielded a jumper—Edwards, and after him one jumper in 2002.  And that’s all, folks!

Coming to the Llano Theatre:  (Subject to change)

EDDIE THE EAGLE PG-13
March 18 - 20

ZOOTOPIA PG
March 25 - 27 no matinee
April 1 - 3 matinee 3 p.m. Sunday

In the interest of full disclosure:  I have no connection to the Llano Theatre.  I just appreciate the fact that a small town, Plains, Montana, has a movie house that shows great movies at a reasonable price usually within a month of their first on-screen appearance in the big cities, and I want to make sure that those of us who live in the area continue to enjoy this luxury for a long, long time.