I once forced some pals on a skiing holiday to spend an afternoon off the slopes watching Chalet Girl. Suffice it to say, I have a high tolerance for lowbrow ski films. So if saccharine tales about plucky Alpine underdogs really aren’t your thing you might want to give my views a miss — as you might Eddie the Eagle, a biopic so drenched in cheerful clichés about the British class system, the power of perseverance and cheap slapstick laughs, it is a kind of Downton Abbey on skis.
That said, it’s hard to remember an afternoon at the cinema I’ve enjoyed more in recent times (and it’s definitely better than Chalet Girl). Such enjoyable silliness, such easy laughter. Based on the true story of the most likable Olympic loser of all time, Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards, the film basks in the reflected glory of what Sebastian Coe (before the athletics scandals) called the ‘purity’ of sport. And like the London 2012 Games at which Coe made that speech, Eddie the Eagle will make some British audiences feel patriotism and pride for our oddball heritage. Although in its relentless optimism Eddie the Eagle definitely feels American (it opened at the Sundance Film Festival in January), its idiosyncratic identity is British through and through.
Michael ‘Eddie’ Edwards was an unlikely Olympian. Strapped in leg braces for years as a child on account of his weak knees and with a plasterer for a dad, he did not possess your typical snow-sports pedigree. But Edwards had a dream and became a decent downhill skier. After narrowly missing out on qualification for the GB ski squad for the 1984 Winter Olympics, he decided to switch to the cheaper sport of ski jumping with the aim of qualifying for the 1988 Games in Calgary.
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in