EDDIE
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 3.0 Alternative Scale: *1/2 out of ****
United States, 1996 U.S. Release Date: 5/31/96 (wide) Running Length: 1:40 MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Language, brief sexual situation) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Whoopi Goldberg, Frank Langella, Dennis Farina, Richard Jenkins, John Salley, Malik Sealy, Rick Fox, Dwayne Schintzius Director: Steve Rash Producers: David Permut and Mark Burg Screenplay: Jon Connolly, David Loucka, Eric Champnella, Keith Mitchell, Steve Zacharias, and Jeff Buhai Cinematography: Victor Kemper Music: Stanley Clarke U.S. Distributor: Hollywood Pictures
New York Knicks fans, still smarting from a lackluster season and second-round playoff ejection, may find some solace in EDDIE, a fantasy for Big Apple NBA fans. Just about everyone else is likely to find this smug, self-congratulatory, moronic comedy unbearable. Whoopi Goldberg doesn't exactly have a sterling track record, but this particular travesty resembles a pile left by the runaway elephant in MADE IN AMERICA.
Whoopi plays Eddie Franklin, a rabid Knicks fan (very much in the mold of the Celtics fans from the infinitely better CELTIC PRIDE). She sits high in the cheap seats at Madison Square Garden, yelling epithets at the beleaguered coach (Dennis Farina, doing a Pat Riley imitation). By day, Eddie is a limo driver, and, when one of her pickups turns out to be Wild Bill Burgess (Frank Langella), the Knicks' new owner, she deluges him with unsolicited advice. Bill is so impressed by her that, when he sees her at a game one night, he rigs an "honorary coach" contest so that she wins. When the fans react with unbridled enthusiasm to her antics, Bill goads the current coach into resigning, then hires Eddie as the replacement. And, of course, the sorry Knicks start to get better just as the season winds down.
Eddie has inherited a team of talented problem players, so, according to formula, she sets out winning their trust and turning them around. She reunites one with his wife, learns Russian to communicate with another, and brings in a third one's mom for an inspirational pep- talk. The results? Well, when it comes to the big game, the oaf who can't plant his feet suddenly grows roots and the superstar who never passes treats the ball like a hot potato. There's a bit of contrived melodrama at the end that tries to fake the audience into thinking that the result of the game might be in doubt, but we know better.
EDDIE tries to be a little different by introducing a sub-theme involving the arrogant self-absorption of today's athletes. One player haughtily ignores a kid's request for an autograph; another won't practice because he's involved in a photo shoot for a rap album cover. This topic is a good launching pad for satire, but EDDIE does nothing with it. It's just a plot device cooked up by one of the six credited screenwriters. (When has a script written by so many been any good?)
The character of Eddie is one of the film's worst miscalculations. We're supposed to like her, but, with Goldberg exhibiting all the loud, loutish arrogance of the stereotypical Knicks fan, we end up wishing for her downfall. Quite a few past and current NBA players (Walt Frazier, John Salley, Dwayne Schintzius, and Dennis Rodman) make appearances, but their (thankfully) limited exposure does little more than prove that they're considerably more effective on court than on screen.
Those offended by the rampant commercialism of motion pictures (Disney and its subsidiaries are particularly guilty of this) will find much in EDDIE to raise their ire. Huge chunks of the film function as glorified commercials for ESPN (including a completely unnecessary cameo by Chris Berman) and New York's clear-channel WFAN radio.
There are a couple of clever moments in EDDIE, such as a scene where a player offers a scientifically accurate definition of a black hole (this echoes the "civilized" Right Guard commercials), but this film offers very few laughs. It's a dull, stale affair with suspenseless game sequences, humorless jokes, and pathetic drama. In short, unless you're craving a Knicks fantasy triumph, EDDIE is one summer movie to stay far away from.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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