Eddie the 'Eagle inspiring movie

"Eddie the Eagle" opened at a theater near you last week. The reviews have not been great, but maybe that's fitting: It's based on the life story of 1988 Olympic ski jumper Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards, an Englishman who was not that great of a ski jumper.

In fact, he was the worst ski jumper in the Calgary Winter Olympics, finishing a distant last in his events. But Eddie became world-famous for it ― and for the chipper attitude he brought to the enterprise. It's a worldview that the world could use right now.

Edwards, who was 24 at the time, made his living as a plasterer in his hometown of Cheltenham. An accomplished downhill skier, he left the British national ski team to train for ski jumping because it was more affordable. The only such athlete from Britain, an island nation with no snow and no ski jumps, he struggled heroically to train in the United States and somehow qualified for the Olympics.

From the moment he arrived in Calgary, he charmed everyone around him with his enthusiasm for being in the Olympics and his guileless manner. Severely farsighted, he wore Coke-bottle-thick glasses under his goggles and spoke like an ordinary bloke. "In my case, there are only two kinds of hope," he remarked to the press. "Bob Hope and no hope."

The Calgary Olympics was also the year of the Jamaican bobsled team, another incongruous matching of native land and chosen sport. They, too, captured international attention and merited a Hollywood movie ("Cool Runnings"). But that team went on to more Olympic competition and fared well. Edwards parlayed his fame into a decent life as a good-natured minor British celebrity.

In a 2014 interview, Edwards summed up what drove his popularity. "I was a true amateur and embodied what the Olympic spirit is all about. ... The failures are the people who never get off their bums. Anyone who has a go is a success." So what if the new flick proves to be cheesy? The spirit of Eddie "The Eagle" is one for the ages.

This editorial appeared on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and was distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.