Cool Runnings

Cool Runnings is a 1993 American sports comedy film directed by Jon Turteltaub from a screenplay by Lynn Siefert, Tommy Swerdlow, and Michael Goldberg, and a story by Siefert and Michael Ritchie. It is loosely based on the debut of the Jamaican national bobsleigh team at the 1988 Winter Olympics, and stars Leon, Doug E. Doug, Rawle D. Lewis, Malik Yoba and John Candy. In the film, former Olympian Irving Blitzer (Candy) coaches a novice four-man bobsleigh team from Jamaica, led by sprinter Derice Bannock (Leon).

The film was originally envisaged as a sports drama, and Jeremiah S. Chechik and Brian Gibson were attached to direct before dropping out, leading to Turteltaub being hired. Leon was cast in 1989, followed by Doug and Yoba a year later. Lewis, who had little acting experience prior to the film and was first sought as a dialect coach, joined in November 1992. Principal photography began in February 1993 and lasted until that March, with filming locations including Kingston, Discovery Bay, and Calgary. Cool Runnings is Candy's final film released in his lifetime. Its score was composed by Hans Zimmer.

Cool Runnings was theatrically released in the United States on October 1, 1993, by Buena Vista Pictures. It received positive reviews from critics, with praise for its humor, tone, and cast performances. The film grossed $154.9 million worldwide and its theme song, a cover of "I Can See Clearly Now" by Jimmy Cliff, reached number 18 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

Plot

In November 1987, Jamaican sprinter Derice Bannock trains to compete in the 100 meteres race at the forthcoming Summer Olympics, but fails to advance in the trails after fellow runner Junior Bevil accidentally stumbles and falls, knocking down Derice and another competitor, Yul Brenner. Derice petitions for the race to be rerun, but is denied by comittee leader Barrington Coolidge, though he shows sympathy for Derice. While in Coolidge's office, Derice sees a photograph of his late father, Ben, standing next to a fellow Olympic gold medalist. Coolidge identifies the man as Irving "Irv" Blitzer, a former bobsled champion who was disqualified for cheating in the 1972 Winter Olympics and now works as a bookie close to Derice's home. Derice realizes he could enter the upcoming Winter Olympics in Calgary by forming a bobsled team, recruiting his friend Sanka Coffie, a pushcart derby champion.

Derice and Sanka track down Blitzer, who initially refuses to help Derice but eventually agrees to coach the team after learning that he is Ben's son. A recruitment drive fails when other athletes see how dangerous bobsledding is, though Junior agrees to join the team as, like Derice, he does not want to wait four years for the next summer Olympics. Yul also joins in order to get off the island, though he is unhappy at having Junior as his team mate, still angry at him for what happened at the trials. The newly-formed team trains with Blitzer, though Coolidge refuses to provide the money needed to participate, believing the team's inexperience will embarrass Jamaica. After Derice fails to find sponsors and he, Sanka and Yul are unsuccessful raising funds themselves, Junior sells his car to finance the trip.

Upon reaching Calgary, Blitzer registers the team and borrows a rundown bobsled from Roger, one of his past teammates. The Jamaicans struggle to adapt to the cold and race conditions but improve through exercise and hard work. Derice begins to copy the techniques of the very efficient Swiss team, while the East German team – the current bobsled world record holders – constantly heckle the Jamaicans during their practices. When the team gets into a bar fight with the East Germans, Blitzer reprimands them and reminds them they are representing all of Jamaica through their actions, inspiring the team to be more serious about their conduct and training in order to qualify for the Olympics.

Overseen by Olympic committee members, which includes Blitzer's former coach Kurt Hemphill, the Jamaican team successfully complete their qualifying run, only to be excluded, supposedly for lack of competitive experience. Blitzer confronts Kemphill, who is still bitter at Blitzer for cheating, and pleads with him not to punish the Jamaicans for his past actions. The team is reinstated, and Junior, with encouragement from Yul, rebuffs his father's attempt to bring him home, firmly stating his intent to compete for Jamaica. The team's first run in competition puts them in last place, with Sanka unhappy with Derice for copying the Swiss team and believes they need to find their own rhythm. On the second day of competition they significantly improve, but on the final run their bobsled flips and crashes. Determined the finish the race, the team pick up their sled and carry it over the finish line, to the applause of other teams spectators, including all those who had doubted and ridiculed them. An epilogue says that the team returned to Jamaica as heroes, and returned to the Winter Olympics four years later to participate as equals.

Cast

Production

According to Leon, "there were script problems. It wasn't funny enough, the key elements were lacking, and it just wasn't working. It was meant to happen when it happened." The film's working title was Blue Maaga. Before Jon Turteltaub was officially hired, Jeremiah S. Chechik was slated to direct until he moved on to do Benny & Joon (1993) instead. Brian Gibson was also considered to direct, but he dropped out to do What's Love Got to Do with It (1993) instead.

thumb|right|The film was set in [[Calgary, Canada during the celebration of 1988 Winter Olympics.]]

Casting

According to Leon, "The script has been following me around for 3 years." He signed on when Gibson was the director at the time. Leon told The Seattle Times, "I was signed more than a year before we actually started." Doug got involved with the film in 1990: "I found Cool Runnings three years ago, when my agent had it on his desk. I knew about the actual event it's based on, the Jamaican bobsled team that went to the '88 Olympics, and even though it's based pretty loosely I thought it made a great yarn." At the time of Doug's audition, Chechik was attached as the director. Doug told The Baltimore Sun: "I got the offer to play Sanka, the guy I'd wanted to play from the very beginning." According to Yoba, Scott Glenn was also considered for the role.

Filming locations

thumb|left|[[Canada Olympic Park, the site of the 1988 Winter Olympics]]

The film was shot in Calgary and Jamaica in February and March 1993. The cast and crew filmed in Calgary first to take advantage of the snow. Then they filmed in Jamaica at Discovery Bay and Kingston.

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Reception

Box office

Cool Runnings debuted at number 3 at the US box office with a gross of $7,046,648 in its opening weekend from 1,387 theaters behind the also debuting Malice in first place and the second week of The Good Son. The following weekend it expanded to 1,803 theaters and moved up to second place grossing $9,568,699 over the 4-day Columbus Day weekend behind the opening Demolition Man. The film had total domestic earnings of $68,856,263 in the United States and Canada, and $86,000,000 internationally for a total of $154,856,263 worldwide. The film grossed $416,771 in Jamaica.

Critical response

Cool Runnings received positive reviews, including one from Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times which referred to the film as "a sweet-natured, high-spirited comedy, that rare movie that plays effectively to all ages. Even rarer, it celebrates genuine sportsmanship, placing the emphasis back on how the game is played in the face of the winning-is-everything philosophy that permeates every aspect of contemporary life."

Richard Harrington of The Washington Post wrote "a wholesome, engaging, frequently hilarious, ultimately inspirational film."

Cool Runnings has received a rating of 76% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 42 reviews. The site's consensus states "Cool Runnings rises above its formulaic sports-movie themes with charming performances, light humor, and uplifting tone." On Metacritic, it has a score of 60% based on reviews from 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A on scale of A to F.

Accolades

American Film Institute recognition

AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – Nominated
AFI's 10 Top 10 – Nominated

Historical differences

Competition

Jamaica was disqualified by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for late entry into the competition, but pressure from several appeals, including from Prince Albert of Monaco (who competed in the event himself), led to the reversal of the decision, as opposed to an appeal by their coach.

Despite being presented as a medal contender and record setters in the film, Jamaica crashed on their third and penultimate scheduled run and struggled consistently in the competition: out of 26 contestants, they finished 24th, 25th, and 26th, with times of 58.04 seconds (24th), 59.37 seconds (25th), and 1:03 minutes (26th), becoming the only four-man team in the competition to post a time over one minute. They finished 26th overall, with a cumulative time of just over 3 minutes after three runs. If they had taken part in the final run, they would have had to complete a world-record shattering time under 48.00 seconds to win a medal.

The film implies Jamaica as the only country from a tropical climate to compete in bobsleigh at the Olympics; while they were the only Caribbean country to feature in the four-man competition, Netherlands Antilles and two teams from the U.S. Virgin Islands competed in the 38-team two-man competition, who finished 29th, 35th, and 38th, respectively. Two members of the Jamaican team (Dudley Stokes and Michael White) also competed in the two-man sled competition, completing all four runs and finishing in 30th place; Stokes and White were set to compete in two-man bobsleigh event only, with the four-man team entered to compete after the two-man event had already been completed. The team reached speeds of and their helmets scraped against the wall for until they came to a stop. The film depicts the team carrying the sled to the finish line to a slow-building standing ovation: in reality, the team walked next to it and received some sporadic applause. On March 28, 2017, the film was released on region free Blu-ray as a Disney Movie Club Exclusive title. The film was made available for streaming on Disney+ on January 1, 2020.