Bookshelf Battle

Sniff sniff.

Oh God.  They finally made a movie about my life.

I mean, I’m not British and I wouldn’t set foot near a ski jump if you paid me but still…I am a nerd who knows the harsh oppression that nerds face when they seek to make their dreams come true.

SPOILERS!

BQB here with a review of Eddie the Eagle.

Michael “Eddie” Edwards had one dream growing up – to become an Olympian.

That’s a lofty goal for anyone but especially for him.  He was in a leg brace for most of his early childhood and even had to stay at a hospital for a year.

As a youngster, he tries his hand at every sport only to fail miserably and end up with a box full of broken glasses.

Miraculously, he does make it onto the British downhill ski team only to be cut.  Eddie is poor, unsophisticated and ultimately, the British Olympic Committee just doesn’t like him.

Speaking of poverty, he’s at odds with his Dad who wants him to quit skiing and get a job, preferably as a plasterer, as that’s what his father does for a living.

Eddie is about to pack it all in until he concocts an idea to become a ski jumper.  Britain hasn’t had one since the 1920’s so all he has to do is land a good jump to qualify.

Easier said than done.  After running off to a ski training facility in Germany, Eddie befriends former American ski jumper Bronson Peary.  Perry is a down and out drunk, torn between a desire to find greatness again by becoming Eddie’s coach and not wanting to see Eddie die.

For, Bronson explains, even the most skilled and qualified jumpers wipe out and end up gruesomely mangled all the time.

In case you’re not convinced, you’ll see Eddie get knocked all over the slopes all throughout the film.  It almost makes you wonder who thought ski jumping would be a good sport to begin with.

I don’t want to give too much more away.  Like Rocky, Eddie competes.  He tries.  He gets in the game and his victory doesn’t come from gold (he comes nowhere close) but that he did so much better than expected, especially when no one expected anything from him.

If you’re not a ski jumper, that’s ok.  This movie can be applied to any dream.  On this blog, we talk about our writing aspirations, hopes, and dreams.

I can tell you I can relate to Eddie.  Maybe not with the hurling myself into the air, but I know what it’s like to be told by family and friends to quit writing, to be told by experts it can’t be done, to wonder myself what other productive things I could be doing instead of gluing myself to my keyboard.

But we do what we do because we can’t stop ourselves.

Taron Egerton is a great Eddie just as Hugh Jackman is an excellent Bronson.

It is too bad this movie came out so early in the year.  I see Oscar potential.  I know it made me shed a tear or too.

Then again, the Oscars are So Pretty, and they probably wouldn’t want to promote a movie that gives nerds a crazy idea like they can be somebody.

STATUS: Shelf worthy.