Eddie the Eagle

There’s a truly loveable sense of relating to Eddie Edwards (Taron Egerton) as The Little Engine That Could. From the start of his highly improbable life, Eddie was an underdog, a sickly kid with dreams of competing at the Olympics. The young Brit stumbled upon ski jumping far later than most traditional competitors, but his never-say-die attitude, which drove everyone around him nuts, placed him in the path of Bronson Peary (Hugh Jackman), a championship-level talent who never lived up to his potential. Before you can say Cool Runnings, Peary and Edwards also find themselves at the 1988 Winter Games ready to fly. Egerton commits to portraying Edwards as a tightly focused and somewhat naïve figure and convinces us that his large heart may have been enough to help him to sprout wings in this real-life fairy tale. (Opens wide Friday) (PG-13) Grade: B-