Cool Runnings
Published November 2, 2014
Film info
- Title Cool Runnings
- Director Jon Turteltaub
- Year 1993
- Run time 1hr 38m
- Genres Comedy, History
- Tagline One dream, four Jamaicans, twenty below zero
Based on a true story, this is the comedic saga of four Jamaican athletes going to extremes to compete as bobsled racers at the Winter Olympics.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 2:01 | Ah, running. Having a phase of missing it at the moment. Looks hot there though! |
| 5:08 | “Kiss the lucky egg.” Bah, as bad as Vijay Mallya. |
| 10:10 | Ack, sport is so cruel. |
| 10:32 | “You’ll have another chance in four years.” The Olympics is extra cruel! |
| 19:05 | Like the friend. And that he calls him Sled God. |
| 28:06 | Cold weather endurance must surely be their biggest downfall? |
| 39:55 | Can you just go about buying a sled when you get there? That seems crazy unorganised. |
| 43:34 | Slo-mo bobsledding. |
| 47:13 | “People are always afraid of what’s different.” |
| 52:42 | Smuggling hot water bottles around, I like the sound of that. |
| 58:30 | That Swiss and/or German guy is terrifying. |
| 1:08:13 | Yay, first stage done! |
| 1:10:47 | The “best interests” of the sport can be used in so many different ways. |
| 1:16:56 | Surely you can’t be mad at a child that gets into the Olympics. That’s something to be proud of no matter what sport it is! |
| 1:23:56 | It’s actually quite good when your only goal is to “be better than yesterday.” |
| 1:35:56 | That man needs to have colour photographs on his wall too! |
Conclusions
This is a film that many people have told me to watch, it’s something of a cult classic and has definitely been popular amongst Sidepodcast readers. That always worries me though, when something is so beloved I’m always concerned that I’m not going to get it or like it and that might be a problem.
Thankfully, that couldn’t have been further from the truth with this one. It’s brilliant. Simple, funny, heartwarming, beautiful. Days later, I’m still chanting: “Jamaica, we have a bobsled team.” Also love that it doesn’t have the traditional happy ending, because that would be kinda unbelievable, and yet it’s exactly what needs to happen. Love it.
Rating: 5/5.
Rating: 5 / 5