Disney Plus is adding a great if often overlooked Hugh Jackman movie to its library this week. Among the titles going up on the Mouse House’s streaming service on Friday, December 18th is 2016’s sports comedy-drama Eddie the Eagle, as originally produced by 20th Century Fox. Taron Egerton stars in the title role of the charming biopic, with Jackman as the co-lead.
Eddie the Eagle is based on the real story of Michael “Eddie” Edwards, the first man to represent Great Britain at ski jumping in sixty years at the 1988 Winter Olympic Games. The inexperienced Edwards had no chance of gaining a medal at the event, but his inspiring ambition made him a popular figure back in the day. As directed by Dexter Fletcher (who went on to bring us Elton John biopic Rocketman, also starring Egerton), the movie’s a true feel-good watch.
Jackman plays Bronson Peary, a cynical alcoholic ex-skier who’s convinced to become Edwards’ trainer despite his broken relationship with his own mentor, Warren Sharp (Christopher Walken). Egerton and Jackman make a strong double act and it was probably this film that launched the ever-popular fan campaign to get the former to replace the latter as Wolverine.
Fletcher’s film – as produced by Kingsman helmer Matthew Vaughn – is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a critics score of 82%. The audience score is exactly the same, too, proving its mass appeal. As the Critical Consensus puts it: “Eddie the Eagle‘s amiable sweetness can’t disguise its story’s many inspirational clichés — but for many viewers, it will be more than enough to make up for them.”
Disney Plus has already made many of Hugh Jackman‘s hit Fox movies available to stream, including a bunch of X-Men flicks and The Greatest Showman, and you’ll be able to catch Eddie the Eagle on the site from this Friday.
