EDDIE. Directed by Steve Rash; written by Jon Connolly, David Loucka, Eric Champnella, Keith Mitchell, Steve Zacharias amd Jeff Buhai (whew!); produced by David Permut and Mark Burg for Hollywood Pictures. Starring Whoopi Goldberg and Frank Langella. Rated PG-13 (some vulgarity)
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Even if Eddie was a lousy movie—and it's not—it still would be fun to see for NBA, and especially, Spurs fans.
Several of the NBA's lesser lights (including former Spur Dwayne Schintzius) turn in good performances both on and off the court. The "Knicks" get shellacked by the 1994-95 Spurs in the Alamodome (Rodman's hair is electric pink for the occasion). And besides, what fan has never said, "If I were coaching those bums, I'd do things differently; then we'd make the (finals) (World Series) (Stanley Cup)"—take your pick.
Eddie lets us live those fantasies through New York Knicks super-fan Eddie (Goldberg). Through a series of sometimes clumsy coincidences, Eddie comes to the attention of the Knicks' new owner, Wild Bill Burgess (Langella) and gets to be honorary coach for the second half of a game. Then, when Burgess wants to get rid of his real coach (Dennis Farina) he makes the appointment permanent, thinking the novelty of a fan-coach (and a woman, no less) will boost attendance and interest in the team.
He's right. But Eddie also turns out to be, to no one's surprise, just the right person to motivate the Knicks' bored, overpaid superstars and turn them into a real team.
Goldberg, with her enthusiasm and charisma, is perfect for the role of Eddie. Langella fools us for a while into thinking he's playing a good guy for a change, but he reverts to type before the final credits. Naturally, though, Eddie ultimately gets the better of him.
The real delight of Eddie, though, are those NBA cameos. Schintzius is great as the token Russian Knick. John Salley of the Bulls is appealing as the token nice guy. The Celtics' Rick Fox looks like a future leading man. And Malik Sealy of the Clippers is quite funny as the superstar's superstar.
Non-basketball fans might have trouble relating to most of Eddie. But its strong message that the fans are the most important part of any franchise will appeal to followers of other sports as well. And roundball buffs will love it.
June 12, 1996