FRIDAY NIGHT MOVIE REVIEW: Tonight I saw “Eddie the Eagle,” which stars Taron Egerton (Kingsman: The Secret Service, Legend), Hugh Jackman (X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Wolverine), Jo Hartley (This Is England, Inbred), Keith Allen (The Others, Trainspotting), Tim McInnerny (Notting Hill, 101 Dalmations [1996]), Iris Berben (Rosa Roth [TV series], Silberhochzeit), Jim Broadbent (Gangs of New York, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), and Christopher Walken (Seven Psychopaths, Catch Me If You Can). It is directed by Dexter Fletching (Wild Bill, Sunshine on Leith) and written by Sean Macaulay and Simon Kelton. Michael “Eddie” Edwards (Egerton) is a young man with a big dream: to make it to the Olympics. Almost everyone has been against him in reaching his goals, but when he realizes that he can have a chance with ski jumping, he takes it, doing his best to learn the skill and succeed.

Another “based on a true story” film…but this time, we have Hugh Jackman and Taron Egerton! As far as true story movies go, “Eddie the Eagle” isn’t among the top ten, but it does entertain nonetheless. Following the tale of a young man wanting to make it big in the Olympics, there is quite a bit that this release has to offer. I thought that the acting was great, with everyone pulling their own weight. Hugh Jackman was good in a role outside of Wolverine, and Taron Egerton, although holding an annoying face, disappeared into his character, and I applaud him for that. Also, Christopher Walken made a surprising guest appearance, so that definitely earned this feature some points! Delving into the plot, this film takes you through a journey; and I mean a journey! Although this movie lasts an hour and forty-six minutes, its pacing was slow, and I felt as if I was really walking alongside Eddie through his struggle. It’s a conflict that we have all seen many times, but the character of Eddie was interesting enough to hold my attention. Whether the pacing worked or not, I do like how it escalated to a gratifying conclusion in a timely manner. At its core, this is a nice adventure of proving your enemies wrong. It doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel of inspirational movies, but it’s subject of ski jumping does add its own flair. Other things that make this unique would be its direction and musical score. Since this event is set in the 80s, the score is all techno. It was hard to follow along with at first, but I grew rather fond of it towards the end. The setting of this also gave way to good costuming and trends, which I always love to look at in films set in specific time periods. Observing its issues, besides the fact that it follows the line of other inspirational releases, anything I can think of is minor. I did have trouble hearing what some of the characters were saying through their thick accents, but it wasn’t to the point where I couldn’t understand the movie. To sum it up (and I know that this is a rather short review), this film was fun. It had some rough spots and the fact that it doesn’t push the envelope of inspirational stories can keep it from obtaining a high stature in the world of cinema, but I would recommend it to anyone looking for an adventure about overcoming obstacles anyway. There’s something in this for everyone, and that’s enough to give this a good score. FINAL SCORE: 86%= Juicy Popcorn

Here is the trailer: