Empire by Olly Richards

Eddie The Eagle turns a long-running joke of British sport into a crowd-pleasing story of inspiration. It’s a solid gold winner.

Total Film by Rosie Fletcher

From niche subject matter, Fletcher's crafted a movie that's both universal but also unashamedly, gloriously British. Very funny, genuinely moving and endlessly good-natured.

The Playlist by Russ Fischer

This gentle comedy is more interested in doing justice to the spirit of his achievement and the style of late-'80s comedy than the details of his life, but the resulting confection is sweet and simple.

Entertainment Weekly by Joe McGovern

The movie version of his life, fittingly, is a massive vat of hot cocoa with a mountain of whipped cream on top — sweet and warm and made with a ­mission to satisfy everyone who takes a sip.

Philadelphia Inquirer by Tirdad Derakhshani

A triumphant, feel-good, laugh-out-loud, sports biopic.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Kate Taylor

It is a rare biopic of any kind, let alone a sports bio, that merely celebrates participation. It’s that novelty that makes this simple comedy shine.

Charlotte Observer by Lawrence Toppman

[A] warmhearted, conventional and irresistible dramedy.

Boston Globe by Tom Russo

Inspiring, or amusing? Appealingly, Eddie the Eagle invites both tags.

Chicago Sun-Times by Richard Roeper

Director Dexter Fletcher paints Eddie’s story in broad, bold strokes, never missing an opportunity to milk a suspenseful dramatic turn or go for the relatively easy laugh — but it’s a style well-suited to this wonderfully ridiculous story.

Washington Post by Ann Hornaday

Eddie the Eagle leaves viewers buoyed by satisfactions unique to classic come-from-behind stories. Even when it’s as ungainly and cravenly audience-pleasing as its protagonist, it soars.

The Film Stage

Eddie isn’t groundbreaking by any means, but effortlessly fun, packed with irony, and ready to woo even the most unathletic children through countless TV reruns.

Movie Nation by Roger Moore

As “Forrest Gump” proved, never bet against a supportive mom. There’s a need and a market for lump-in-the-throat, feel-good treacle.

TheWrap by Alonso Duralde

As cinema, it’s an avalanche of feel-good clichés, but as an audience-pleasing machine, it relentlessly pursues its goal and will probably win over viewers who surrender to it.

Screen Daily by Tim Grierson

As sunny as Eddie The Eagle is, its greatest liability is that it never pushes itself, content to let an amiable true-life tale be turned into a generic genre exercise.

Slant Magazine by Kenji Fujishima

It remains more committed to printing the uplifting legend of its title character than in actually examining the human beings underneath.

Variety by Andrew Barker

The pic gets quite a lot of mileage out of several note-perfect musical choices...and Fletcher includes just enough odd angles and quirky compositions to suggest a slightly stranger, loopier vision for this film lurking somewhere beneath.

Screen International by Tim Grierson

As sunny as Eddie The Eagle is, its greatest liability is that it never pushes itself, content to let an amiable true-life tale be turned into a generic genre exercise.

The Hollywood Reporter by John DeFore

The essence of what made the man inspiring to so many — it's not the winning, but the effort that's important — comes through with gonglike clarity in Dexter Fletcher's film, a straight-down-the-ramp sports tale that plays to the average man's dreams of momentary greatness.

Time Out by Tom Huddleston

Eddie the Eagle may suffice for a brainless Friday night, but an honest account would have been a lot more memorable.