This is my fourth and final semester writing a column for The Cavalier Daily Sports section, and each of the previous three semesters have included a look at a motion picture from the genre that I have dubbed the "Family Sports Movie" (FSM for short). In honor of the Olympics later this year (even though they are the Summer Games), I am going to round out the series with a look at the 1993 bobsled FSM "Cool Runnings."
(Note: As always, if you haven't seen "Cool Runnings" and plan to at some point in the future (what are you waiting for?), you might want to stop reading now as I plan to discuss the plot in detail and ruin the ending, as you will soon find out. Thanks.)
In November, I discussed what qualifies a flick to be an FSM, with "Rookie of the Year" as the supporting case study. I argued that there are six criteria that constitute the formula for an FSM, and for "Cool Runnings," we are going to focus on and break down what goes into the last category: the redeeming ending. Why? Because "Cool Runnings" has the most inspirational ending of any FSM. (Another note: Just to quash any potential letters to the editor and/or death threats, let me repeat that we are talking about the FSM genre here. So other great sports movies like "Rudy," "Rocky," "Field of Dreams" and the like do not count in this argument and were not considered in my rather definitive statement above. Deciding the most inspirational sports movie ending ever is an epic argument for another time.)
Many of the qualities that make "Cool Runnings" an FSM are the same ones that help set up the inspirational ending. For example, just like you can't have an FSM without an underdog component, you can't have much of a touching finish if a team doesn't fight through adversity. The Jamaican bobsled team had everything working against them. From the Jamaican Olympic Committee refusing to fund them to businessmen and women laughing in their face when asked for donations to struggling to find a sled to everyone disrespecting the Jamaican team in Calgary to the International Alliance of Winter Sports changing the qualifying time at the last minute to Junior's father trying to break up the team to the Alliance disqualifying them for a second on a bogus, quickly passed rule before reinstating them, it took a hell of a lot of perseverance for the Jamaican team to compete in the Olympics (in the movie at least).
(One more note: This isn't really part of setting up the great ending, but I wanted to get it in here. Despite all of the conflict thrown at the team through the movie, "Cool Runnings" remains one of the funniest FSMs. John Candy is hilarious, especially at the beginning when he yells at the radio and later when he prays the night before the team's first Olympic run ("Our father who art in Calgary, bobsled be thy name ..."), plus Doug E. Doug as Sanka has a number of solid one-liners throughout.)
Another ingredient imperative to setting up an inspiring conclusion is the need for redemption from main characters. For Derice Bannock, this comes in the form of his desire to be an Olympian. You can tell within the first 10 minutes how much Bannock wants to go to the Olympics, so when his dream is taken away so quickly with the qualifying trial gone awry, it sets up Derice's bid for salvation. The team's coach, Irv Blitzer (Candy), needs to live down his disgrace from the 1972 Olympics when he put weights in the front of the bobsled and had his gold medals revoked for cheating. Blitzer's experience with the Jamaican team leads him at last to understand what it really means to be a proud Olympian.
Finally, the development of the characters throughout the movie as they pick up life lessons and gel as a team makes the audience feel more and more empathy for their attempt to win a medal at the games. I hold back a tear every time bald-headed Yul Brenner talks about his plan to live in Buckingham Palace. Sanka promptly laughs at him, but Junior tells him to go after his dream, a truly poignant moment from the film. This leads to Brenner going from the guy who said he "may be on your team, but [is] no one's teammate," to the guy who convinces Junior to act like a man with the "Look in the mirror and tell me what you see" scene and sticks up for his fellow bobsledders during the brawl in the Western bar. The entire team eventually learns that who they are is what matters most and they resolve to "bobsled Jamaican."
All of this contributes to the most inspirational FSM ending of all time. With the chance for a medal, the Jamaicans start their third run, and everything looks good for the first three-fourths of the race. Then, suddenly, a screw in the sled shakes loose, the sleigh's blade skids and the team flips the bobsled on its side, sliding sideways before stopping on the final straightaway. For what feels like an eternity, the team lays on the ice as the audience is left to feel sorrow for the team's failed run. Then, the Jamaicans emerge and carry the sled on their shoulders toward the finish line. The East German starts an epic slow-clap that follows the team as they triumphantly finish the race.
Sure the Jamaicans didn't win the gold, but it was about more than that. It was about competing for pride in their country and finishing what they started, morals that everyone, in an Olympic year or any other, can understand and apply to their own lives. One of the toughest things to do in a sports movie is to avoid the clichéd, championship ending but to instead keep the film moving. "Cool Runnings" utilized the entire film to set up the conclusion, one that proved to be the most inspirational in FSM history.
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