Cool Runnings
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| Cool Runnings | |
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| Directed by | Jon Turteltaub |
| Produced by | Susan B. Landau Christopher Meledandri |
| Written by | Lynn Siefert |
| Starring | Leon Robinson Doug E. Doug John Candy Rawle D. Lewis Malik Yoba |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Pictures |
| Release date(s) | October 1, 1993 |
| Running time | 98 min |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $14,000,000 (estimated) |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Cool Runnings is a 1993 comedy film directed by Jon Turteltaub. It is loosely based on the Jamaican Bobsled Team at Calgary, Alberta in the 1988 Winter Olympics. It stars Leon Robinson, Doug E. Doug, Malik Yoba, Rawle D. Lewis, and John Candy.
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[edit] Plot
Irving ("Irv") Blitzer is an American bobsled double gold medallist at the 1968 Winter Olympics, who finished first in two events again in 1972 but was disqualified for cheating and retired in disgrace to Jamaica, where he leads a destitute life as a bookie. He is approached by top 100m runner Derice Bannock, who failed to qualify for the 1988 Summer Olympics when another opponent, Junior Bevil, tripped at the trials, and pushcart driving champion [Sanka Coffie], who both wish to use his previous experience as a coach in order to compete in the Winter Olympics as bobsledders. Blitzer had been good friends with Derice's father, Ben, a former gold medal sprinter whom Blitzer had tried to recruit for the bobsled team years ago.
The first half of the movie centers on Jamaica, efforts to recruit Bevil and Yul Brenner (he was also tripped during the qualifiers), and training the team. After Blitzer is convinced to coach the team, the three months of practice begins, initially resulting in embarrassment. However, the four men get used to the sport and make their way to Calgary and the Olympics.
The second half of the movie is the drama of the Olympics, and the fish-out-of-water scenario of the laid-back tropical black Jamaicans in both the white-dominated sport and the cold of Calgary winter. The Jamaicans' first day on the track results in, once more, embarrassment, and a last-place finish. The second day proves better; the Jamaican team finishes with an incredible time of 56.53 seconds which puts them in eighth position. For the first half of the final day's race it looks as though they will break the world bobsled speed record, until tragedy strikes; their rickety sled (an old practice sled Blitzer acquired from the US team) falls apart towards the end of their run, leaving them metres short of the finish line. However, the team lifts their sled up and walks across the finish line to rousing applause from onlookers, including antagonists such as Junior's father (who proudly bears his Jamaican bobsled team T-shirt beneath his jacket), Josef Grull (an East German driver who had ridiculed the Jamaicans constantly) and Kurt Hemphill who is a member of the Olympic alliance. The team, at the end, feels accomplished enough to return in four years to the next winter Olympics, which they do, though neither they, nor any other team in the world, ever comes close to matching the run in which their sled fell apart.
[edit] Box office
- U.S. Gross Domestic Takings: $68,856,263
- Other International Takings: $86,000,000
- Gross Worldwide Takings: $154,856,263
- Jamaican Takings: $46,271
[edit] Cast and Characters
- John Candy - Irving 'Irv' Blitzen
- Leon Robinson - Derice Bannock
- Doug E. Doug - Sanka Coffie
- Malik Yoba - Yul Brenner
- Rawle D. Lewis - Junior Bevil
- Kristoffer Cooper- Winston
- Peter Outerbridge- Josef Grool
- Michael Chicklis- Street Tough # 3 (Calgary)
- Winston Stona- Mr. Coolidge
- Charles Hyatt- Whitby Bevil (Junior's Father)
- Bertina Macauley- Joy Bannock
- Pauline Stone Myrie- Sanka's Mother
- Thomas C. Schorsch - Irving 'Irv' Blitzen's Son (Deleted Scene no.109)
[edit] Real-life discrepancies
[edit] Characters
The bobsledders portrayed in the film are fictional, although the people who conceived the idea of a Jamaican bobsled team were inspired by pushcart racers and tried to recruit track sprinters. However, they did not find anyone interested in competing, and ended up having to recruit four sprinters for the team.
Irving Blitzer is a fictional character; the real team had several trainers, none of whom were connected to any cheating scandal. As the time of the movie's release, the United States had not won a gold medal in Bobsleigh at the Winter Olympics since the four-man event in 1948. The double gold medalist in bobsleigh at the 1968 Winter Olympics was Italy's Eugenio Monti.
[edit] Organization
A fictional sports governing body, the "International Alliance of Winter Sports" appears in the film (in reality, every winter sport has its own separate governing body). Also, England is listed on the board shown in the tavern in Jamaica, whereas in reality English athletes compete under the flag of the United Kingdom.
[edit] Competition
The bobsled competition in the film consists of three individual runs, whereas in reality the Olympic bobsled competition is two runs a day held over a two-day period.
[edit] Funding
In the film, Junior of the bobsledders decides to sell his car to raise money to get to Calgary after being turned down for sponsorship. The other members also hold fund-raisers, and several prospective sponsors laugh at them. In reality, the team got to Calgary on corporate funding. In a deleted scene, Irv also agrees to wrestle a live Bear, but his traumatic experience with "Bart the Bear" in the "Great Outdoors" quickly yanked the project from the drawing board. John Candy was relieved.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
