Having not watched Cool Runnings until recently I thought I was missing out on something, ‘it’s a cool movie’ said my friend when we saw it in the bargain bin, so I thought, hmmm, I’m gonna have to watch this. I can remember it coming out, but I couldn’t remember what it was about until I saw the cover again, oh, it’s a Walt Disney movie, this ones got to be good then, not excellent though, a Walt Disney film has never been excellent for me.
I also realised then that John Candy was in it, who for me was a good actor. Sadly he died in 1994, just one year after making Cool Runnings. He’s a missed actor who only lived to the age of 44 due to a heart attack. Ok, he was hugely overweight, but from the films I’ve seen with him in, he always was. That’s why this op is dedicated to the talented actor.
Before I say anything else about this film, I must go on to tell you that it’s not that good, it’s not that it’s bad though, it’s just a mediocre movie that could have been more. It was a good concept for a movie, I just don’t think it was used all that well.
Cool Runnings was directed by Job Turteltaub (excuse me!?) who is responsible for such films as ‘3 Ninjas’ oooo, blockbuster there me thinks and ‘While you were sleeping’. He hasn’t got a great track record, but is still making movies so it seems, his latest creation being ‘The Kid’,
another Disney movie. I can’t tell you the budget, but I can tell you that it did very well indeed in both the US and UK box office, taking $68.8m in the US and £9.2m in the UK, following up with $29.9m in movie rentals in the US. So yer, I should think this movie made it’s money back and a lot more on top, considering it was made in 1994.
The movie revolves around the Jamaicans and their obsession with the Olympics. Well, the obsession of a few individuals anyway. We are introduced to Derice (Leon(I)), a runner who is getting ready to run his way into a place in the Olympics, unfortunately for him, he and two other runners get tripped over and never make it to the finish line, Derice has to watch his dreams go down the drain for another 4 years, but he’s not going to stand for that. He goe’s to see the president of the Jamaican Olympics teams (I think he’s the president anyway) and asks for a re-run, but doesn’t get it. His dad however had won gold medals in the Olympics, and it just so happens that Derice finds out that his dad was once approached to be in a Bob-Slay team.
Earlier in the film we were introduced to the funny man Sanka (Doug E Doug), the champion box car driver (little go karts which they race down a hill!). Now, if you think of his box car skills and then put them up against bob-slaying you’ll see that the two are not to far apart! Sanka is Derice’s friend, put two and two together and you’ll have 2 guys wanting to create the first ever Jamaican Bob-Slaying team. All they need is a coach and 2 other team mates. The 2 blokes who also tripped in the run turn up, as does John Candy as the coach.
Now, this might seem a tad silly, but that’s what this film is supposed to be, funny and entertaining to watch. That it is in places, but that’s after the first half hour. During the first half hour you begin to wonder what you have let yourself in for, and are probably thinking off turning it off and watching something else. You’ve got to stop yourself though, it all picks up later in the film! This film needs an introduction. The Jamaicans, who have never Bob-Sled in their lives now have to turn all that around and become professional Bob-Sledders. You see, it’s the winter Olympics soon and these guys are desperate to get their names and themselves into the Olympics, they will do anything, train hard, work hard, play hard, anything it takes and they do their coach proud, but with no money and no real practice in a real bob slaying team, will they do their country proud and end up with a medal? They have to go through all the snide jokes and the ridicule of having a tin can as a bob-slay, but they stick with it….will they do it though, that’s the question…all is not as it seems when you come to the end of the movie, so don’t give up hope yet thinking that I have given away the ending, I simply haven’t!
The acting is good in the movie, this surprised me, with the Jamaican lad’s not being all that well known, some have gone onto other things, like ‘Eight Legged Freaks’, others seem to have gone a bit the other way and starred as extras in films. Others have gone into TV. It’s a shame, there was talent there. There is of course the extra funny bloke, and Doug E Doug plays his part extremely well, if only he was in other movies. Would you dress yourself up to the hilt and then take water bottles in your jacket in a bob-slay with you? Points been made, this bloke does it all in his stride and really does act like a dumb arse, unless of course he is in real life! There are also those classic one liners that you will hear throughout the film, so much so that you will know when a line is going to be said, but it makes you chuckle to yourself each time it is said!
One thing that will stand out, especially if you have a good audio system with your DVD player is the music. This is quite a big part of the movie, and it’s a good part too, I enjoyed the scenes with the music a lot more than I did the other scenes. The music is of course Jamaican, a lot of drums and a lot of bass, just what this film needed to give it that boost.
Cool Runnings is a good movie, I’ve already said that, it could have been more, I have already said that too, it is definitely worth a watch, it’s just that for me, I needed something more. It’s suitable for the whole family, with a ‘PG’ rating slapped on the front of it, the only reference you may want to be covering your kiddies ears with is the words ‘bad ass mother’, but nothing really any more risqué than that. It’s a film that the family can enjoy, but a film that, for me, was only worthy of 3 stars.
** I have been told that this film is based on a true story, about the Jamaicans in 1988 in Calgary **
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Based on an improbable but true story,Cool Runningsconcerns the Jamaican bobsled team that ... more
competed in the 1988 Winter Olympics. Director Jon Turteltaub (Phenomenon) does a fine job with both the absurdity of the situation (the athletes had never even ...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Based on an improbable but true story,Cool Runningsconcerns the Jamaican bobsled team that ... more
competed in the 1988 Winter Olympics. Director Jon Turteltaub (Phenomenon) does a fine job with both the absurdity of the situation (the athletes had never even ...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
You'll love COOL RUNNINGS - the outrageously funny hit inspired by the true story of ... more
Jamaica's first Olympic bobsled team. They were four unlikely athletes with one impossible dream. Now, with the help of ex-champion as their coach (John Candy - Uncle ...
Advantages: It's for the whole family, a true story and very funny. Disadvantages: Not all parts of the film are factual but if you visit the website you are given the true story.
carolinesite 05.02.2001 (03.02.2001)
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Review of Cool Runnings (DVD)
![Cool Runnings [DVD] [1994]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78539432.jpg "Cool Runnings [DVD] [1994]")
Sep 23rd, 2002
(Sep 28th, 2002)
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