Cool Runnings - B

Quick Hit: Feel the rhythm and feel the rhyme for this formulaic underdog story of a real life event: a Jamaican bobsled team.

Hans Zimmer did the music, which surprised me a bit. I associate him mainly with things like the RDJ Sherlock movies.

There are a couple movies that people just love to quote. Some movies everyone quotes, “Say hello, to my little friend!” “Phone home” etc. Other movies seem to fall to a certain person in your life. I have one friend in my life, JB, who has consistently quoted this movie our entire lives. This may be due to the fact there were very few movies in his household growing up, but nevertheless, the quotes from this movie always make me think of him (If I had a dollar for every time I heard him say “Thanks Coach”, I would be writing full-time).

It goes without saying that Cool Runnings is a fun movie. We’re talking about a movie featuring John Candy, star of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (a bit more on him later). We are also talking about a movie featuring a Jamaican bobsled team, which seems to be an oxymoron. But, it really happened. The team first debuted in the Olympics in 1988. Like in the movie, the team members were first a bit of a laughing stock, as they had very little experience with actual bobsled equipment. However, the Olympics won over and lots of other countries gave the teams tips on how to improve their times. Real footage from their crash is even included in the movie.

The movie pretty funny. Sanka carries a lot of the comedic load, but they wring some laughs out of other characters as well. However, outside of Sanka, everyone else seems a bit derivative of other characters. ​​n one example, Junior Bevil seems a bit like Carlton from The Fresh Prince 

of Bel-Air. Despite these shortfalls, I watched most of this movie with a smile on my face. Some of that may have been nostalgia, but some of it was genuine humor.

The movie did come with some sadness. Watching John Candy, a man that was so talented, is like watching Heath Ledger or Robin Williams in movies now. He passed away from a heart-attack a few years after this movie, and it’s understandable. Candy is a big man here. He was always sensitive about his weight, but I think that his extra size lends believability to his washed-up athlete role. He delivers some rousing speeches that are actually inspiring.
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The main critique I have of this movie is that it does almost nothing new. It is as formulaic as Little Giants, The Big Green, The Replacements, The Longest Yard, etc. etc. etc. There are very few sports movies that don’t follow this trend, however, so I won’t mark it down much for that.

Bottom line – it’s a funny movie, it’s family friendly, and it’s not a complete waste of 98 

minutes. Watch it if you are feeling in the mood for a decent comedy. I’ll give Cool Runnings a “B”.  

For more on this film, check out IMDB.