Taron Egerton as Eddie the Eagle. Photo / Supplied
It is rather puzzling that it has taken so long for this story to reach cinema screens.
As a semi-biographical film about the exploits of Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards in the lead-up to the 1988 Olympic Games in Calgary, Canada, as a reluctantly accepted member of the Great Britain
Olympic team, this story is perfect for a nerd-overcomes-the-odds crowd pleaser.
It has taken 28 years for a film version to appear and as numerous commentators (and Eddie himself) have noted, it is largely a fictional, fanciful rendering of events, but also an accurate reconstruction of Europe in the late 1980s.
The role of Hugh Jackman as Bronson Perry, the disgraced former Olympian who becomes Eddie's coach, is a complete fabrication, and one suspects that other characters and encounters are liberal embroidering of the truth.
But this is not a documentary and truth is less important than creating the story of an unlikely hero overcoming the barriers of his social background, physical limitations, parental obstruction and initial public disbelief, to become a hero for millions.
