The story of British ski jumper Michael “Eddie” Edwards is of the classic underdog variety: In the 1988 Winter Olympic games in Calgary, he inspired people around the world with his bright personality and infectious enthusiasm, becoming the first ski jumper to represent Great Britain at the games. Funny thing is, Eddie lost. He lost BAD and in spectacular fashion. In both the 70m and 90m events he came in dead last, failing utterly and completely by most competitive standards. Nonetheless, the guy garnered millions of fans simply because he was happy (almost hilariously happy) to be there and do his absolute best.

What Dexter Fletcher‘s Eddie The Eagle gets right is its willingness to poke fun at Eddie, played here by Kingsman: The Secret Service‘s Taron Egerton. Too often movies of its ilk take their subject too seriously, in turn making the story feel schmaltzy, pruned and disingenuous. Fletcher’s film takes several liberties with Eddie’s journey, most notably inserting a fictional trainer (Hugh Jackman). This is easy to swallow: Historical accuracy will never be the most important aspect of telling someone’s life story. Capturing and paying respect to the person’s spirit and reflecting the true value of their accomplishments? That’s everything.

It’s the essence we’re after. In the case of Eddie, his essence is an ability to find pride, joy, and positivity in the face of adversity, derision, and even failure. When he was eliminated from Britain’s downhill ski team, he opted to take up the even more dangerous discipline of ski jumping instead of giving up. When he jumped a comparatively short distance than his competitors at the games, he celebrated and played to the cameras and excited crowds, simply happy to live his dreams. That’s his legacy, funny and inspiring at the same time, and that’s precisely how the movie feels.

Egerton—unrecognizable from his character in Kingsman, donning Edwards’ signature thick glasses, thick mustache and awkward posture—exudes the unlikely Olympian’s plucky positivity without being a caricature. When Eddie’s blue-collar dad (Keith Allen) pulls up to a bus stop to find his son packed and ready to leave home in pursuit of his Olympic dream, he barks at him to get in the car. “Have you ever had a dream?” Eddie asks, to which his father defiantly barks, “To be a plasterer! Let’s go home.” With his chin held determinedly high, Eddie says with compassion, “Bye, dad.”

When Eddie arrives in Germany to train for Olympic qualification, he meets a drunk ex-jumper, Bronson Peary (Jackman), who reluctantly (after relentless pestering) agrees to train young Eddie to land jumps instead of breaking his neck. The juxtaposition of the grizzled veteran and the clumsy rookie is good fun and would have worked better with a few tweaks to Jackman’s character or even a different casting choice. The Austrailian actor simply looks too put together and dashing to be a convincing drunken mess, and the alcoholism angle screenwriters Sean Macaulay and Simon Kelton go with feels unneeded, a futile attempt at making Bronson look like a loser. The actors do have chemistry, though, and Jackman’s pure gold in a scene that sees him illustrate the art of a takeoff via a feigned orgasm á la When Harry Met Sally. The moment is so absurd (especially in the family-movie context) that you can’t help but laugh at how much fun the movie’s having.

With the help of Bronson, Eddie finally makes it to the Winter Olympics in Calgary (despite dastardly attempts by the British Olympic Committee to block his participation, mostly because he’s goofy looking) where he at first enjoys his sudden stardom but then is reminded by coach Bronson to take himself more seriously and put forth his best effort despite the fact that he’s been ski jumping for a fraction of the time his competitors have. To the shock of everyone watching his Olympic escapades, Eddie vows to compete in the potentially deadly 90m jump, which leads us directly into the movie’s obligatory “He did it! He did it!” crescendo. The rousing finale’s done excellently though a random subplot involving Bronson’s old mentor (Christopher Walken) deflates the excitement for an excruciating few moments. There are no revolutionary changes made to the underdog formula, but the movie is special in that it celebrates the pride one finds in the simple act of participation.

Ski jumping, as it turns out, is one of the most cinematic of sports: Watching a human being soar through the icy air with long, slender skis stuck to his feet is an awe-inspiring sight, and Fletcher gets a lot of mileage out of a sport that pretty much looks the same every time (the variable being whether the poor guy eats snow or not; we see both successful and failed landings), using CGI stylishly and tastefully and giving us a terrifying sense of how goddamn high these athletes actually go. Looking down from the top of the 90m jump is bloodcurdlingly scary, and Fletcher makes sure to drive home just how crazy Eddie is to take up such a dangerous sport with such little experience. Once Eddie’s in flight, however, Fletcher has fun with interesting angles and brisk editing that, at its best, is exhilarating.

Most of Eddie the Eagle‘s success can be attributed to young Mr. Egerton. He makes us laugh at Eddie without making him clownish, and he makes us care for him without being corny. It’s a spot-on performance that sets the pace for everything else in the film, and he should be proud of the fact that, in this instance, he acts circles around the infinitely less memorable Jackman, a bonafide screen veteran. The gap in tone and timing and attitude between this role and Egerton’s turn in Kingsman is cavernous, and he makes the jump effortlessly (apologies for the totally-intentional pun).

“What the hell am I doing here?” I thought. Standing next to me by the Oakland Technical High School football field was Hugh “Wolverine” Jackman, leather jacket and all; next to him, his Eddie The Eagle co-star Taron Egerton and the movie’s director, Dexter Fletcher. The Australian megastar’s dashing good looks had me flabbergasted enough, but nothing was more distracting than the fact that I was standing next to WOLVERINE, my childhood hero! Reading the comics rabidly back in the ’90s, I never expected Logan would be this tall in person…

Making the scene even more absurdly amazing was the action playing out on the field just yards away: Throwing passes and running drills with high-school kids were Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Johnson and recently-retired Seattle Seahawk Marshawn Lynch, who were there in support of Fam 1st Family Foundation. Again I thought, “What the hell am I doing here?”

What I was doing, actually, was talking to the three talented men in front of me about their new film, based on the story of Michael “Eddie” Edwards (Egerton), a British ski-jumper who captured hearts worldwide with his inspiring journey to and performance at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. Jackman plays his reluctant coach, a fictional character conjured to provide Eddie’s story with a bit of friction and an element of camaraderie. When asked about the creation of the character, Jackman joshed: “I did test for Eddie…” His joke was met with thunderous, perhaps slightly exaggerated laughter from me because I was starstruck and shameless and simply couldn’t resist (I’m sure my fellow journalists participating in the roundtable can sympathize). He’s a real charmer, that Wolvie.

While I still have no clue how in the world a schmuck like me ended up in the star-studded situation I did, I’m glad fortune chose to smile on my that sunny day, allowing me to bring you this interview about a movie I found to be genuinely funny and inspiring and a whole mess of fun for all ages. Sure, it was cool chatting it up with your favorite X-Man. But the truly important people that day were running up and down that football field, the kids who, hopefully, with the boost of these famous fellows’ encouragement, will fight tooth and nail to reach beyond their wildest dreams in the spirit of Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards.

You can watch Egerton and Wolv…er…Jackman in Eddie The Eagle this weekend as the movie opens nationwide.

Walk us through the decision to include Hugh Jackman’s character in the movie since he wasn’t a real character.
Dexter: [The movie’s] about Eddie and his journey but it’s also important that there’s some sort of attempt to explain who Eddie is and what he’s going through, why he’s feeling the things that he is, and also have a character that pushes back against him [so that] the audience feels they’re a part of that journey as well. Initially, that’s the heart of it. We as an audience need a character who’s going to push Eddie on why he’s doing what he does. But it develops into something more interesting than that. You’ve got to have a human relationship at the heart of a film like this because that’s what people understand. It was important that Eddie didn’t feel like this lonely character. So we created this other character and it becomes a movie about friendship. That’s really important. You create a character who’s the polar opposite of Eddie and it throws a light on both of [them] and gives [the actors] something to get their teeth into. And Hugh Jackman wanted to be in it!

Hugh: I did test for Eddie. [laughs] Just to be clear, most of this movie is based on truth. There are some deviations but the key things, the most amazing things—his jumping, the injuries, the coming back, the fact that he was sleeping in a closet—all that is true.

Dexter: There were people that did help along the way and, of course, in a film you’ve got six, seven different characters coming in and playing some part in that journey. That becomes confusing. So we reduced that into one super-character which, in fact, would be Hugh Jackman. It’s a storytelling exercise. It’s facts told in a fictional way.

Taron, what was it like playing this role that could potentially inspire children and young adults? How does that make you feel as an actor?
Taron: If that’s the case, I can’t imagine anything more rewarding for an actor. That’s truly, truly gratifying on a level more than anything. The thing I love about Eddie is that he’s someone who’s easy to make fun of, deride, mock—but actually, he’s got this incredibly unique quality so few people have. Not that he’s impermeable but he takes the negative and is able to turn it into fuel for the positive. So, when someone says something unkind to him or tells him he can’t do it, in a very quiet, dignified way, he doesn’t engage with it or retaliate—he just allows it to make him stronger and tougher. I think that’s probably one of the most valuable lessons you can learn.

One of the things that appealed to me most about the movie is that it doesn’t take itself so seriously. We can actually laugh at Eddie a little bit, in a good-natured way.
Hugh: It’s called being British! [laughs] It has got that British, Full Monty quality. If you’re too earnest and on-the-nose in England, it’s never going to work! I think Eddie enjoyed having a laugh. If anyone ever in sports has shown [they] like to have a laugh at themselves, it’s Eddie Edwards.

Taron: Eddie’s a bright chap; he’s not an idiot. He knows that what he did was funny. He had been doing it a fraction of the time his competitors had been doing it, and it was this terrifying, death-defying jump he kind of threw himself into. That’s funny, and he knows that. When he saw the movie, he was thrilled. I think it’s because he knows that we struck the balance. There was a funny side but obviously, to him, it was a very serious thing. I know Dexter was very conscious—and we were, too—of making it a balance. You have to leave the theater going, “Yes! He did it!” I hope we’ve succeeded.

Hugh: At one point, [Eddie] actually broke his jaw and tied it up with a pillow case and competed like that.

Taron: We shot that, actually, but it didn’t make it in!

Hugh: Oh, really?

Dexter: We did! But also, I don’t think we treat [the story] in a sort of sentimental, mushy way. If you’re going to get up on those ski jumps, you’ve got to have a certain amount of fortitude. He’s not like, “I hope I don’t hurt myself.” He doesn’t even think about that. Being unsentimental allows him to be strong. We know he’s a strong character with a strong story, so we can afford to laugh at him.

Hugh, when looking at your role here, Charlie Kenton in Real Steel and even Wolverine, there’s a through line of rogues with a heart of gold. What draws you to characters like this?
Hugh: It’s the opposite of me because I’m seemingly very likable and outgoing but underneath there’s just zero heart. [laughs] I’m sure sometimes these kinds of roles come to me because of Wolverine, who’s sort of the ultimate reluctant hero. I just really love this story. If there had been some other construct or character, I probably wouldn’t have been part of it. I loved working with these guys and I do love, I suppose, seeing on film that idea of redemption. [My character] is someone who lives with a lot of regret and is, therefore, kind of cynical to the world. Deep down, he realizes he stuffed up his chance for whatever reason. Lack of self-belief, obviously. I love the idea that people are redeemable, I suppose.

Dexter: I think also that you’re not afraid to play the human flaw, you know? To play someone who’s flawed is a more interesting thing altogether. He’s flawed; he’s human; he’s real. I think that needs to be something you readily tackle and relish as well.

We’re back! On the second episode of the Way Too Indiecast this week we welcome the biggest guest we’ve had on the show thus far, Hugh Jackman! He, Taron Egerton and director Dexter Fletcher are talking about their new film, Eddie The Eagle in a particularly unique interview environment. Also, good friend of the show Christopher Jason Bell sits down for a snack-‘n’-chat with Bernard to talk about what it’s like to be an independent filmmaker presenting a movie at a film festival and conducting a Q&A with a (sometimes tiny) audience. On top of all that, Bernard and CJ share some brand new Indie Picks and talk about their favorite movies based on inspirational true stories.

It’s a packed show and we’ve still got more Indiecast awesomeness coming your way tomorrow when John Hillcoat and Breaking Bad‘s Aaron Paul join us to talk about their new film, Triple 9! See you back here in 24 hours!

Topics

• Indie Picks (5:34)
• Christopher Jason Bell (17:00)
• Favorite “Inspirational True Story” Movies (33:02)
• Eddie The Eagle (53:46)

Articles Referenced

• The Winds That Scatter Indiecast

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What makes Deadpool a very, very special member of the Marvel Universe is that he rides that Bugs Bunny plane of existence where he has a direct, ongoing conversation with us, the audience, as he partakes in the same superhero escapades of his spandex-clad counterparts. For fans, the prospect of him hitting the big screen was an exciting one—a Deadpool movie, done well, has the potential to undress superhero movies in a spectacular, hilarious way. After years bubbling up to the surface of the cesspool of weirdo movie projects no one wants to finance, Deadpool is finally here, and it does (hooray!) walk through many of the creative doors a fourth-wall-breaking character like “The Merc With A Mouth” kicks down. What’s a disappointment is how surprisingly tame the comedy feels and how conventional the movie feels as a whole, but if it’s simple, off-the-wall entertainment you’re after, you’re going to leave the theater mighty happy.

The movie’s self-awareness is may be the biggest hook for those of us with previous knowledge of the titular character (played by a fiery Ryan Reynolds), but for mass audiences, its clear appeal is its free pass to show us hard-R, bloody, vulgar stuff you almost never see in superhero movies. Kick-Ass constitutes the “almost,” but Deadpool hits the anti-superhero-movie thing on the head much, much harder. The tone is firmly set in the funny opening credits sequence which, instead of sprawling filmmaker Tim Miller‘s name across the screen, cites the director as “Some Hack” and the writers as “The Real Heroes Here.” The jokes, which mostly take aim at studio-movie clichés, are well thought-out a lot of fun, though they never feel as smart or ahead of the fanboy curve as I’d hoped. Most of the laughs come from a place of recognition, like pointing out how shameless Marvel’s Stan Lee cameos have become or referencing the colossal blunder that was The Green Lantern (which also starred, as you probably know, Mr. Reynolds). The best gags are the ones that come out of left field, like when Deadpool slyly hints that the main reason the movie got financed was due to the support of Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman.

Reynolds (who’s been vocal about his desire to reprise the Deadpool character after the missed opportunity that was X-Men Origins: Wolverine) doesn’t shut his yap for virtually the entire movie, a difficult task for even the most seasoned onscreen comedians (Jim Carrey and the late Robin Williams took on many a gabby, cartoonish role in their respective careers, and even they had their fair share of missteps). That the Canadian heartthrob sails through the material so comfortably is super (pardon the pun) impressive, especially considering how much harder it is for uber-handsome leading men to get us to laugh at and/or with them (Cary Grant was one of the few actors who could be “the fool” and make us feel sorry for him despite his immaculately chiseled chin). Now, is Reynolds as funny and brilliant as the three legends I just name-dropped? That’s a big NO. But most actors of his generation and ilk would crash and burn in this kind of role, and he keeps his composure uncommonly well.

After the movie’s first scene, a quippy, brain-splattering freeway shootout in which Deadpool’s badassery and loudmouth personality are established, we flash back to learn about the life of Wade Wilson, a mercenary with a barkeep best friend called Weasel (T.J. Wilson) and a kindhearted, prostitute lover, Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). Setting Wade on his path to becoming the one-and-only Deadpool is the news that he has late-stage, terminal cancer. When a shady figure offers him a cure in the form of experimental therapy (which, as chance would have it, affords the patient super powers), he reluctantly seizes the opportunity. Bad move; the organization administering the treatment turns out to be totally evil. Wade’s cured alright (he even acquires super-healing powers), but he’s left covered from head to toe in Freddie Kruger-esque burns. In a word (his word), he’s “un-fuckable.” The dejected Wade can’t bring himself to return to Vanessa with his disgusting-ass face, so he instead sets out on a revenge mission in search of Ajax (Ed Skrein), the mad scientist who screwed him over in the first place.

Deadpool starts in a good place but eventually starts to skip to the same beat as all the superhero movies it pokes fun at, pitting our antihero against a sadistic bad guy in a CGI-heavy final battle, the fate of his love hanging in the balance. Some mutant sidekicks join the fray in the form of the Russian, steel-bodied Colossus (Stefan Kapacic) and the explosive Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand). These two are mostly used to emphasize how much edgier Deadpool is than your everyday X-Man, though it’s pretty clear that, deep down, he sits comfortably on the good-guy side of the larger spectrum—what’s more heroic than risking life and limb for your lover? Take away his potty mouth and murdering addiction (he only kills bad guys, after all), and he’s just like the rest of Professor Xavier’s gifted students. That’s the movie’s biggest issue: bells and whistles aside, it feels like just another superhero story. The irony stings. Still, it’s entertaining throughout and the laughs are well-earned and rival those found in the excellent Guardians of the Galaxy . That’s a win deserving of a lifetime supply of yummy chimichangas.

As the first panel on the third day of Comic-Con, Warner Brothers Productions had some big acts to follow – and try to overshadow, in a room full of 6500 zombie-like attendees just waiting to be impressed.

And overshadow they did.

In the war between DC and Marvel movies, Marvel has been the main act lately; churning out action packed superhero blockbusters like they were going out of style. And even amid talks that they may have been, Warner Brothers brought to the table a new set of heroes they’ve been holding in their back pockets. Waiting for when the time was right. And apparently the time is now.

They began the morning with some decent looking but not so heavy hitting upcoming films.

Guy Ritchie sent a video clip from a mystery film set to announce a new trailer for The Man From U.N.C.L.E. starring Armie Hammer and Henry Cavill as Cold War era special agents from opposite sides reluctantly teaming up to save the world. Though not as anticipated as some of the bigger films, we will see Hammer undertaking a heavy Russian accent for which he studied over many months with a dialect coach.

Director Joe Wright, Levi Miller, Garrett Hedland (Tron), and Hugh Jackman showed up for the Pan panel. It’s a reframing of the origin story of how Peter became Pan. Wright stated he wanted to make the film as dark as he could to show every kid that no matter how dark it got, they can overcome. And it certainly promises to be dark. Wright insisted the move back from green screen and CGI promising that every Neverland set was built, the biggest practical set being the forest, and with more than 150 extras on the set every day, we can expect more than an immersive experience.

Hugh Jackman declared, “This is one of the most fun movies I’ve ever made, by the way we had 4 pirate ships fully built.”

They shared exclusive new footage from the film of the introduction of Blackbeard, who is basically the original leader and recruiter of the Lost Boys. A Fagin type who brings down and out orphans to Neverland with promises of freedom and sweets, so long as they obey his every order with no hesitation. Joe Wright was mainly inspired by the sense of strangeness in the original J.M. Barrie book in which the children’s characters were never underestimated, and the  complexity of every single persona present was distinct, diverse, and equally duplicitous.

After these two stand-alone films, Warner Brothers brought out the big guns in machine style with a non-stop series of huge announcements.

Beginning with Suicide Squad, director David Ayer announced they would be all about canon and faithful to the source material proclaiming, “You are going to freaking get it with this show; it’s time for bad vs. evil. And who’s got the best bad guys ever? DC Comics.” Also showing up was the entire cast of Suicide Squad, minus Jared Leto (the Joker), including Margot Robbie and Will Smith.

Everyone showed up for Batman vs. Superman including Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot (the new Wonder Woman) and a morose looking Ben Affleck (no conjecture about the reason here). Though pitting heroes against heroes is all over comic culture, this particular clash is not in any current canon, especially to this extent. Director Zack Snyder declared there was one big rule bent in putting Gotham and Metropolis as sister cities geographically, sitting opposite from each other across a bay.

Ben Affleck shared a story of going to a costume store with his son who wanted a Batman costume for Halloween and happened to run into Christian Bale who was there for the same purpose. When seeking advice as to playing the Batman, Bale responded with “Make sure you can piss in that suit.” Noted.

Opening March 25th, 2016, here is the new trailer:

Denis Villeneuve, the French-Canadian director of Polytechnique and Incendies, has seemingly hit the jackpot with his English language debut. Teaming up with a cast of terrific actors along with legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins, Prisoners sadly spends most of its time letting the incredibly talented people behind it build a hollow shell of a film. The mentions of spirituality, faith, and morally grey situations are laid out but never explored beyond the surface. Thankfully, with people like Villeneuve and Deakins at the helm, the technical mastery makes up for plenty lost in the lackluster screenwriting.

The film starts on Thanksgiving with two neighbouring families, the Dovers and the Birches, visiting each other for dinner. It’s only until well after the dinner that both families realize their youngest daughters, Anna and Joy, are nowhere to be found. Their concern eventually turns to panic as they realize someone took their children. Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) leads the investigation into finding the missing girls, while the two sets of parents grieve in their own ways. Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) is furious at the police for being ineffective, while his wife Grace (Maria Bello) constantly takes pills to stop herself from going into hysterics. Franklin and Nancy Birch (Terrence Howard and Viola Davis) simply co-operate and hope for the best.

The only suspect in the case at this point, the driver of an old RV the kids played around with before disappearing (played terrifically by Paul Dano), is mentally impaired to the point where it would be impossible for him to have successfully kidnapped two children. The police let him go, but Keller is convinced of the man’s guilt and kidnaps him. At this point the narrative cuts back and forth between Keller’s torturing of Dano for information and Loki’s attempts to solve the case through more traditional means.

The moral issues that come with Dover’s actions are touched upon only when Franklin and Nancy get roped into helping him. Keller never shows any sense of guilt for what he’s doing, but Howard and Davis do excellent work showing how their characters feel like there are no other options but helping Dover out. Most of the cast ends up doing the leg work for their characters, as writer Aaron Guzikowski mostly boils them down to one or two traits (Keller’s a doomsday prepper, Loki is the classic determined detective, Franklin plays the trumpet). Davis and Bello get the worst material to work with, as Nancy amounts to nothing more than a blank slate and Bello is reduced to frequently wailing. With characters defined so broadly it’s hard for the film’s themes to resonate.

Luckily there is a much better film within Prisoners, and it comes out when the focus turns back to a standard thriller instead of shallow introspection. Villeneuve creates plenty of tension, especially in the film’s dark final act, and Deakins is on top form as always. There are plenty of things going on stylistically, like the way Villeneuve plays with the violation of space throughout the film, however, it’s one of the only interesting things going on for the first two-thirds. Prisoners can be quite good when it chooses to be a regular thriller. Unfortunately it decides to try for more, and comes up short in doing so.

Prisoners trailer: