Eddie " The Eagle " Edwards, did what no one in the UK had ever done before him, took on quite possibly one of the most dangerous sports on the planet, set a brand new British record of 73.5 metres, coming dead last and in the very same process, made the entire country proud of him for his dedication and courage, what a guy.
shareYou had to have been here in '88 to understand. And that will be the films weakness in attracting an audience.
shareGiven the many positive reactions to the film screening at the BNAT festival ( which could be a good sign for strong reviews) maybe strong word of mouth ( through social media and regular media) might attract audiences to this semi-biopic!
in the UK the idea of people going to major sporting events just to give their best shot and even if they failed (in Edwards case coming last) they would come back to a hero's welcome died after the 1996 Summer Olympics. In those games Great Britain only won one gold medal, putting it in the same bracket as Ecuador. This lead to a much harder attitude that thought if anyone was going to compete for Team GB they should be of a higher standard as possible. Eddie Edwards was the last plucky loser to be celebrated in the UK.
On a further note there has only been one skijumper for the UK in the Winter Olympics since Eddie Edwards. Canadian born Glynn Pedersen in 2002, he finished fifth last in both events.
I agree. I wasn't *that* old in 1988, but I remember Calgary fondly.
Hell, there were even kids "playing" Eddie Edwards when we were out skiing. Matti Nykänen may have won the competition(s), but Eddie won the crowd. Few things were more in the spirit of olympics than his participation in the events.