COOL RUNNINGS. Directed by Jon Turteltaub; written by Lynn Siefert, Tommy Swerdlow and Michael Goldberg; produced by Dawn Steel for Walt Disney. Starring Leon, John Candy, Doug E. Doug, Rawle D. Lewis. and Malik Yoba. Rated PG.
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It would really be easy to trash a movie like this one. It uses every (and I mean every) sports movie cliche in the catalog. Consequently, it's woefully short on character development, and even plot development. It's also rather silly.
But it's also undeniably fun to watch. Based on the story of the Jamaican bobsledders who went to the winter Olympics in 1988, the movie's premise is pretty outlandish, but full of comic potential. And it's milked for all it is worth by the cast, whose energy and charm are what give Cool Runnings its modest success.
Leon (who played a much nastier sort in this summer's Cliffhanger) is the most impressive of the sledders. He's their inspiration and the reason they get together in the first place, and it's easy to see why the others stick with him. Doug is the funniest of the four, with some fine slapstick bits.
The coach's role isn't much of a stretch for Candy, but it doesn't have to be. He can be hardboiled, blustery or joyfully proud, as appropriate; and he's funny no matter what else he's doing.
The plot does manage to give the Jamaicans a reasonably believable excuse for wanting to become bobsledders (three of the four are frustrated sprinters). And once that hurdle is cleared, those cliches see you right through to the predictable (but still enjoyable) finale.
A nice plus is the exciting bobsled footage, which gives a great sled's-eye-view of this truly dangerous sport.
At its funniest in Jamaica, while the guys are struggling to learn the basics of a totally alien sport, Cool Runnings shifts gears somewhat with the move to Calgary and the Olympics. The biggest Olympic cliche of all—that the thrill is just competing there, no matter if you win a medal or not—is fleshed out in quite satisfying fashion by the unlikely quartet. They dream of a medal, but are thrilled just to qualify; and, hopefully, not to come in dead last.
Come to think of it, a movie that can make a point like that, in entertaining fashion, isn't so easy to trash after all.
November 3, 1993